{"id":652494,"date":"2026-05-06T22:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T22:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/652494\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T22:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T22:59:18","slug":"brownstein-updated-star-list-disappoints-but-montreal-doesnt-understand-michelin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/652494\/","title":{"rendered":"Brownstein: Updated star list disappoints, but ‘Montreal doesn’t understand Michelin’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montreal fares better than last year in the Michelin Guide Quebec 2026<\/a>, but still not good enough compared to Toronto and Vancouver.<\/p>\n

On the bright side, two superb Montreal restaurants \u2014 the long-standing Hoogan et Beaufort and the upstart Sushi Nishinokaze \u2014 get full marks for snagging single Michelin stars in Wednesday\u2019s release of the second Michelin Guide Quebec. The three spots that received one star in last year\u2019s inaugural edition \u2014 J\u00e9r\u00f4me Ferrer Europea, Mastard and Sabayon \u2014 have hung on to them.<\/p>\n

Quebec City\u2019s Tani\u00e8re3 holds its two Michelin stars and is still the sole restaurant in Quebec to have this designation.<\/p>\n

Quebec City\u2019s Le Clan and St-Mathieu-du-Parc\u2019s Auberge Saint-Mathieu are the only other Michelin one-star additions in the 2026 selection.<\/p>\n

Also holding on to one star earned in Michelin\u2019s inaugural 2025 list are Quebec City\u2019s Arvi, Kebec Club Priv\u00e9, Laurie Rapha\u00ebl and L\u00e9gende as well as Rimouski\u2019s Narval.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

That makes for a new total of 13 Michelin-starred restos for the province: six for Quebec City, five for Montreal and one each for Rimouski and St-Mathieu-du-Parc.<\/p>\n

Swell, but that still pales in comparison to Toronto and Vancouver.<\/p>\n

As of 2025, the Greater Toronto area boasted 17 Michelin-starred spots: 16 with one star and one two-star,\u00a0Restaurant Pearl Morissette. Vancouver also does splendidly with Michelin: the 2025 guide lists 12 restos with one Michelin star.<\/p>\n

In Jacob Richler\u2019s list of Canada\u2019s 100 Best Restaurants 2026, released Monday<\/a>, Montreal dominated with 28 selections, including Mon Lapin at No. 2, Beba at No. 6 and Le Violon in eighth place. Incidentally, the single-Michelin-starred Mastard came in 63rd\u00a0on Richler\u2019s top 100 list while other star recipient Sabayon finished 44th\u00a0and J\u00e9r\u00f4me Ferrer Europea, which is in the process of being sold, didn\u2019t place at all. Toronto received 23 nods on the same list. Overall, Quebec and Ontario each received 32 mentions.<\/p>\n

\"SabayonPatrice Demers, co-owner of Sabayon, prepping in the kitchen. Sabayon held on to its one star in the updated Michelin Guide Quebec. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

In the first-ever North America\u2019s 50 Best Restaurants list, released last September<\/a>, Montreal placed five fine-dining spots, with Mon Lapin leading the way in second place. Also on this list are local faves Montr\u00e9al Plaza (22), Le Violon (29), Alma (43) and Beba (50).<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that chef Vincent Gee\u2019s intimate Mile End eight-seater\u00a0Sushi Nishinokaze holds the fifth spot on Richler\u2019s top 10 new restaurant list<\/a> and 31st\u00a0on his 100 Best roundup. And while\u00a0Hoogan et Beaufort didn\u2019t make the cut on either the Richler or North American lists, its veteran chef\u00a0Marc-Andr\u00e9 Jett\u00e9\u00a0has long been making magic in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

Chefs Harrison Shewchuk and C\u00e9dric Larocque\u2019s funky French bistro\u00a0Limbo, which finished third on the Richler top 10 new resto list as well as 23rd on the top 100 chart, received the only new \u201cgreat value\u201d Bib Gourmand for Montreal in the new Michelin guide.<\/p>\n

There are also six new Michelin \u201crecommends\u201d for Montreal in the new guide: Bar St-Denis, H\u00e9licopt\u00e8re, Juliette Plaza, Kitano Shokudo, Oncle Lee Kao and Sofitel Le Carr\u00e9 Dor\u00e9\u2019s Renoir.<\/p>\n

\"JulietteChefs and co-owners Charles-Antoine Cr\u00eate and Cheryl Johnson learned that their restaurant Juliette Plaza was among six new Michelin \u201crecommends\u201d for Montreal in the new guide. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n

So what gives here with Michelin? Why are the likes of Mon Lapin, Beba, Le Violon, Montr\u00e9al Plaza and Alma and so many others snubbed when it comes to stars? Yes, they might get Michelin \u201crecommends,\u201d but the coveted stars consume restaurateurs and diners much more.<\/p>\n

Lesley Chesterman, former Gazette fine-dining critic and cookbook author, sees the situation from another perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as we say we might have been swindled here, I see this differently now,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of people say that Michelin doesn\u2019t understand Montreal, but the truth really is that Montreal doesn\u2019t understand Michelin, because most cities that have had a big Michelin presence for a few generations have been brought up in that system. A lot of chefs either want to play that game or they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cStars for Hoogan et Beaufort and Sushi Nishinokaze are well deserved. But I just don\u2019t understand why Montreal has so fewer one-stars than Vancouver. I think that fine dining has to be reborn a little for us to see more Michelin stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chesterman points out that Montreal is top-heavy with high-end casual restos, but they are not in the Michelin mould.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, either these chefs are going to say they\u2019re doing gangbusters without Michelin or they\u2019re going to change their format to fit the Michelin style. But the reality is we don\u2019t have multi-generations of chefs who grew up in that system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Genevi\u00e8ve Cantin, CEO of the Alliance de l\u2019industrie touristique du Qu\u00e9bec, has a different take, preferring to dwell on the positive impacts the Michelin Guide Quebec has for the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy about this year\u2019s selection. Last year Quebec had 102 restaurants (including starred, Bib Gourmand and recommended spots) and now we have 121,\u201d says Cantin, whose group works with the Quebec Tourism Ministry in promoting the province around the planet.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t feel Montreal is under-represented on the star front compared to Toronto and Vancouver, with the city now having earned two additional one-star selections to go with the previous three plus a new Bib Gourmand.<\/p>\n

Cantin is also quick to point out that Michelin has deals specifically with the cities of Toronto and Vancouver, while here it covers the entire province.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Montreal does have a good representation of varieties,\u201d she says, \u201cbut the (Michelin) mandate is to cover restaurants here in Montreal and Quebec City as well as in seven other regions across the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese selections will put a gastronomic star on all the province, which will bring tourists here looking for something different in these wild geopolitical times.\u201d<\/p>\n

bbrownstein@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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