BIG, big news today has come to us from the international culinary world: Michelin Guide announced that Milwaukee is one of six cities in its new American Great Lakes Guide.
Michelin – a restaurant rating system (by the tire company) founded in France in 1900 – sends anonymous expert inspectors to regions all over the world to identify and rate top culinary experiences. Michelin’s ratings – one to three stars, plus other recommendations and niche honors – are considered the highest honors in the culinary world.
ANN’S GUIDE TO MILWAUKEE’S BEST RESTAURANTS
Having a Michelin presence in a city is thought to buoy that city’s culinary scene and boost tourism and local industry through the recognition and the pedigree that Michelin brings.
Joining Milwaukee in the Great Lakes Guide are Minneapolis, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
“The Michelin Guide is committed to fostering a culture of travel and dining by helping people discover unforgettable culinary experiences in new destinations,” Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, said in a press release. “We are excited to finally be putting a stake in the ground in the Great Lakes region, spotlighting the talent and food cultures across these six great cities.”
Poullennec joined Peggy Williams-Smith of Visit Milwaukee and reps from each of the other cities’ tourism bureaus to announce the “momentous” news right here in Milwaukee, at a press conference in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s East End, our own great lake visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Visit Milwaukee confirmed it is spending $150,000 per year for a three-year contract with Michelin’s American Great Lakes edition. “A new wave of chefs is redefining Milwaukee and has built something truly special,” Williams-Smith said to kick off the press conference. Together, the six cities are showing that the Great Lakes is “leading the [culinary] conversation,” she continued, and the Michelin contract “signals that the world is paying attention.”
The full restaurant selection will not be revealed until 2027, but Poullennec reiterated throughout the press conference that the Michelin inspectors have “boots on the ground” right now. “We promise it will be worth the wait,” he said. “We look forward to being here next year to celebrate.”
Poullennec stressed the effects of Michelin representation, noting the high level of trust that Michelin Guide instills in its users – people who will “extend their stay” in a city or region based on Michelin recommendations. The “first criteria” for many travelers is food, he said, specifically singling out Gen Z travelers in their “decisive impact” on travel trends.
Not only does Michelin affect how tourists behave, it affects the city’s own community of diners, who are the “first audience of the restaurant,” he said. “They are the ’repeaters’” – the ones who consistently support the craft. Still another benefit of Michelin review, Poullennec said, is that it’s a “catalyst” for restaurants to “move to the next level.”
He also highlighted the expertise of the inspectors and their “quiet, silent” work, noting that they have career backgrounds in the restaurant industry and travel all over the world to dine.
Why Milwaukee? Poullennec said the U.S. is a “key market” for Michelin and that one of its “top priorities” is to expand in the U.S – uncovering the “well-kept secrets” and the “serious players.” Poullennec dismissed the notion that 2024’s “Top Chef: Wisconsin” had anything to do with Michelin’s arrival, saying the guide is “fiercely independent” and that its inspectors began scouting in Chicago in 2011, with the implication that their purview would extend beyond the Windy City.
The Michelin Guide’s anonymous inspectors are in Milwaukee right now, scouting for culinary gems throughout our city. We’ll see what they think in 2027.
