“With this campaign we’re proving that our cuisine is worthy of a star, or a billion, while showcasing New Zealand’s dark skies and winter experiences.”
Fifteen months later, when a famed restaurant guide from France confirmed it was coming here, de Monchy coyly suggested that Castle Hill dinner had “piqued Michelin’s interest”.
Newly released documents show the $1.5m outdoor dinner was an explicit play for Michelin Guide attention and part of a targeted campaign that had its genesis at least as far back as 2023 – but the ultimate outcome may have surprised even its instigators.
The pāua pie that might have helped launch a Michelin star campaign.
Since last November’s announcement that Tourism New Zealand would spend $6.3m on three years’ worth of Michelin Guide coverage for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, the Herald has made multiple Official Information Act requests and approached more than a dozen industry insiders for their take on the investment.
We’ve spoken to a chef who is opening a new restaurant in Ponsonby specifically because he wants a star on home territory and heard, anecdotally, that front of house staff want to move from Australia for the chance to work in Michelin-rated dining rooms.
On the flipside, one well-travelled critic doubts any New Zealand restaurant is currently delivering to the coveted three-star standard. Bubbling under the surface are concerns about the lack of support for local restaurant awards that cover areas Michelin is not contracted to visit (including the major wine regions of Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay).
Meanwhile, documents show New Zealand’s eventual financial commitment to Michelin will be $700,000 higher than an initial top estimate provided to the Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, and a much-touted prediction the guide would attract “up to 36,000 more international visitors” can be revealed as a “stretch” target (against a more modest 18,000 visitors).
How, exactly, did New Zealand get the Michelin Guide? Will it change our restaurant industry? And is a scoring system created in 1900 by a French tyre company really worth $6.3m?
December, 2023. That outdoor dinner at Castle Hill is still eight months away, and it’s almost two years before the formal Michelin announcement. Tourism New Zealand staff are working on a quarterly campaign pitch to capitalise on the number one topic of interest from visitor markets – food and culinary travel.
The big idea?
“New Zealand calls on Michelin Guide to make Aotearoa its next culinary destination.”
Possible plans include inviting an inspector to New Zealand, offering a well-known chef as an on-the-ground inspector “to help get the job done” or, given the guide’s tyre company origins, developing the ultimate foodie road trip.
Filming of a documentary-style video is scheduled for February, 2024. In an internal email, a staffer notes: “Should Michelin actually respond; think about responsive angles and how we might engage in social commentary.”
Did Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) actually want the Michelin Guide to set up in New Zealand? Or was it just looking for a reaction to post to Instagram?
An ‘earned’ campaign
That summer, there was a rat infestation at a Dunedin supermarket, the new coalition Government scrapped a major transport infrastructure plan to get Wellington moving and, in Auckland, a public relations company was having its own big Michelin idea.
“Before we begin … two crucial points,” says the pitch from Special PR to Tourism New Zealand.
“This should not be an ‘invitation’ to Michelin to experience New Zealand cuisine. That is not going to succeed, which sets us up for perception of immediate failure.”
The headline ask is identified as “a PR launch idea/execution based on the overarching concept of ‘Michelin star’.” The core of the brief is “a global earned campaign that associates ourselves with or uses the Michelin Guide to elevate perceptions of New Zealand’s food on the world stage”.
In PR speak, an “earned” campaign is the Holy Grail – organic, third-party coverage that builds high credibility and trust because it does not look like paid advertising.
This campaign, argued Special PR, needed to contain intelligent and recognisably Kiwi humour; it should feel premium and high-quality “not just like [sic] rehash of another idea or like we’re seeking approval”.
Special PR actually presented six ideas, but only details of the first (the one Tourism New Zealand went with), have been released to the Herald. In essence: “What if we delivered a high-impact activation that proved we didn’t need a Michelin star – because we had enough of our own?”
Pou-o-Kai, a pop-up restaurant with a menu devised by chef Ben Bayly, held at Castle Hill in 2024 as part of the “stargrazing” campaign that Tourism New Zealand says piqued the interest of the Michelin Guide.
The rest is history, headlines, Instagram posts and YouTube videos. A month after chef Ben Bayly and team cooked crayfish and pāua for 50 puffer-jacket clad international guests, Tourism New Zealand claimed the outdoor dinner – officially titled Pou-o-Kai – had achieved $32m worth of global coverage.
“This activation has put our starry skies and New Zealand cuisine high up on the radar of potential visitors and this is coverage we cannot buy,” said de Monchy.
Local media duly reported the dark skies and winter tourism angles but, in hindsight, the Michelin ask was in plain sight.
The tables at Pou-o-Kai were arranged to echo the guide’s famous logo; a hero video literally begins with the phrase “three Michelin stars”. A week after the event, Special PR emailed Tourism New Zealand and suggested upping the ante – a direct email to Michelin, aimed at prompting a response that would make a “great story and a natural newsworthy update”.
Sample wording: “We’re contacting you all the way from Aotearoa New Zealand. Yes, it’s far away – heck, we even got left off the Olympics map (!), but we also seem to have been left off your Michelin Guide. Wai (tears). And let’s be honest, the Michelin Guide is the benchmark for world leading cuisine!”
‘The stars were aligned’
If it’s unclear whether TNZ went into this whole exercise seeking collateral for a press release or an actual Michelin Guide, at least one organisation has made no secret of its three-star ambitions.
“It has been one of our priorities for around 10 years,” confirmed Marisa Bidois in her final week as chief executive of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand (a member-owned organisation representing 26% of the country’s cafes and restaurants).
“Michelin is powerful because it is a globally recognised shorthand,” Bidois says. “It reduces the work required to convince someone that New Zealand is a serious food destination.”
She recalls discussions about bringing Michelin to New Zealand back in 2016. In 2020, as the industry grappled with the impact of Covid, it was mentioned as part of a “future of hospitality roadmap”. And then, in 2024, the first Hospitality Summit was held at Parliament Buildings, in what Bidois refers to as a “formal flag”.
That summit (involving the Restaurant Association, Hospitality New Zealand and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) covered everything from immigration policy to liquor laws to the need to boost tourism, and resulted in a list of 60 possible solutions to industry problems.
Fourth from the end of the solutions list: “Invest in bringing the Michelin guide to New Zealand, potentially entering negotiations with the Australian Government to share the costs of initiating market entry. Responsible parties: Tourism New Zealand, with support from the Restaurant Association.”
According to the former, surveys show more than 80% of “active considerers” (travellers with the means and desire to visit in the next three years) would consider New Zealand more if Michelin was available here.
The current Government is actively chasing a return to pre-Covid visitor numbers by the end of this year. Recent figures show it’s at 90% of that target, with overseas visitor arrivals hitting 3.51 million in the year to December 2025.
“The stars were aligned,” said Bidois. “I don’t know that there would have been anything else that would have potentially ticked all the boxes for investment at that point in time.”
A modified version of Special PR’s “did you notice us yet” email was sent to Michelin. The response was swift and polite. If Tourism New Zealand wanted Michelin, then Michelin wanted to talk directly, “avoiding intermediaries”.
Late September, 2024: an internal email from Tourism New Zealand’s marketing director shares the good news: “The ultimate action off the back of Stargrazing has happened. Michelin are wanting to start conversations with us to bring the Michelin Guide to New Zealand. Game changer for Food & Wine and destination New Zealand. We are [sic] off course pursuing this ASAP.”
In confidence. Commercially sensitive. Non-Disclosure Agreements. Discussions are dubbed “Project M” and “Project Toru” and, over the next 12 months, Tourism New Zealand prepares a business case in consultation with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, achieves sign-off from Louise Upston, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, and begins briefing in other organisations including Hospitality NZ, the Restaurant Association of New Zealand, Tataki Auckland Unlimited, Air New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
On November 6, it is official. Michelin’s global footprint is expanding into Oceania and, on June 4, we’ll find out whether any of our restaurants are worthy of a star.
Chef Nick Honeyman and his wife Sina, who co-own Auckland’s Paris Butter, have earned a Michelin star two years running for their restaurant in France, Le Petit Leon.
That day, the Herald phoned chef Nick Honeyman. The co-owner of Auckland’s Paris Butter had just finished service at Le Petit Leon, his restaurant in France where he has held one Michelin star for the past two years. Honeyman described the news as “an absolute gift” for the restaurant industry.
He also said, “In New Zealand, I chased accolades. In France, it was the first time I said ‘let’s make a restaurant and let’s make it a really good one and make ourselves happy with it’. And then it came. It was kind of a lesson for me – I think if you’re going to just chase stars, it’s a very lonely life.”
Dissenting voices
Tourism New Zealand’s three-year partnership with the Michelin Guide commits $2.5m (or just under 2% of its total planned annual spend) in the current financial year, including $1.9m drawn from the International Visitor Levy. A further $3.8m from that levy will be spent over the next two financial years.
It’s more money than initially anticipated. An early briefing to the Tourism and Hospitality Minister indicated that while Michelin had to confirm costs, they were typically $880,000-$1.8m per year, across a three- to five-year period. The New Zealand fee was “likely to be in the lower range given our size and the relative ease of travel to assess restaurants.”
News of Michelin’s arrival was fronted by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston. (How familiar are Kiwi politicians with Michelin? Scroll to the minute-and-a-half mark of the announcement for pronunciation that might make a Frenchman weep into sa soupe).
“It puts New Zealand on the map with the world’s great food destinations,” said Upston.
“It will be exciting to see the business benefits flow from this prestigious award,” said Luxon.
That day, Tourism New Zealand counted 85 local media mentions and assessed sentiment as “87% positive”. But concerns were being raised – the mental health pressures on chefs who wanted stars, the expense of the guide at a time when Kiwis couldn’t afford groceries, and the decision to fund an international restaurant guide without also offering assistance to an existing local guide.
In a lengthy thinkpiece, Victoria University politics lecturer Bryce Edwards called the Michelin partnership “a textbook case of pay-to-play corporate welfare” and “a $6.3m subsidy for fine dining”.
“The opportunity cost is immense,” wrote Edwards. “That money could have been invested in hospitality training programmes, regional food festivals, apprenticeships for young chefs, infrastructure for night markets or food trucks – anything that builds the base of our industry or benefits ordinary people. Instead, it’s been spent to further enrich and promote the top end of town.”
Lauraine Jacobs (a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the food industry) wrote directly to Tourism New Zealand saying it was “absolutely gob-smacking” that after years of effort, recognition of the importance of the country’s food and culinary scene “comes in the form of support for a foreign company … even 10% of the money spent would go a long way to our NZ much-loved and respected guide”.
Jacobs noted that, unlike Michelin, the Cuisine Good Food Guide – which recognised 350 hatted and destination restaurants – had nationwide reach.
“‘Don’t leave home before you’ve seen the country’. In this case, please don’t overlook what we have here,” wrote Jacobs.
(The Herald contacted Cuisine editor and owner Kelli Brett, who said it was “business as usual” for her team. “We’ve laid the path for Michelin to follow and are excited to see the outcome for Aotearoa. Meanwhile, we will continue to do what we always do – and what we do best – present a national restaurant guide from New Zealand to the world that we will all be proud of this August.”)
Michelin Guide’s ‘no quota’ approach
Michelin inspectors are notoriously secretive. Nobody knows who they are, how many there are, where they eat, or what resources they might draw on locally to help narrow down their selections, but an estimated 64% of the country’s hospitality outlets are located in the four regions that will be covered – 7785 in Auckland, 2556 in Canterbury, 2058 in Wellington and 384 in Queenstown.
Marisa Bidois said the Restaurant Association has been contacted by members speculating on the identity of inspectors.
“Absolutely. I’ve personally been sent photos of someone, from people saying, ‘hey, do you think this one’s an inspector?’ They’re dining on their own, he’s writing notes … and to be honest, we really have no idea.”
Cuisine’s Good Food Guide currently recognises just six “three hat” restaurants – Ahi, Cocoro, Paris Butter and Tala (supreme winner of the recent Viva Top 50) in Auckland, Amisfield in Queenstown and Craggy Range (in Hawke’s Bay and outside current Michelin contention).
The finer end of fine dining – a dish from Tala, named supreme winner of the Viva Top 50 Restaurants 2025.
At Amisfield, the evening tasting menu costs $595 a head, with wine pairings priced between $395 and $695. The chef’s journey with matching wines at Tala is $360. At Paris Butter, the evolution menu with wine pairings costs $450 a head.
And there is absolutely no guarantee that any of them will be awarded a star.
Michelin’s international director Gwendal Poullennec told the Herald that inspectors had been dining here months before the official announcement.
He confirmed “multiple” visits would be made before the release of the guide’s final selection (scheduled for June 4), with assessments across five criteria: quality of ingredients, mastery of cooking techniques, harmony of flavours, personality of cuisine and consistency both over time and across the menu.
“We have a ‘no quota’ approach,” said Poullennec. “And from year one to year two, it’s always a new game … many destinations, in year one, do not have a restaurant at three-star level. It’s thought the Michelin Guide can play a role as a catalyst … pushing the restaurant to elevate their game.”
The Michelin Guide currently has a presence in 50 countries. Everywhere it goes – and doesn’t go – it makes headlines.
Australia, it was recently reported, turned down a $47m partnership proposal. (Tourism New Zealand confirmed no consideration was given to a transtasman partnership. Correspondence it received after the announcement here, included a note from a Qantas executive saying “nice move … has the Aussies scrambling a bit” and a senior Michelin manager who said “I can tell you that it is blowing up and causing a bit of a stir with your neighbours”.)
In 2017, Michelin reportedly brokered a five-year, $7.7m deal to produce a guide for Bangkok. Seven years later, with the guide now expanded to cover the country, Thailand finally got its first three-star restaurant.
Mexico infamously counts a taco shop among its one-star offerings but two Michelin guide cycles in, has no three-star restaurants. In Lithuania, which entered the programme for three years in 2024 at a reported cost of around $3m, three restaurants now have one star apiece.
These are the experiences of randomly selected countries where the cost of Michelin has made the news. But the value of the guides, argue supporters, is not just in the star ratings. “Bib Gourmand” and “Selection” status are awarded for, respectively, good quantity/good value cooking and good cooking. Right now, some 15,075 restaurants around the world hold these distinctions. By comparison, just 156 have three stars.
The need to stand out
If someone gave chef Matt Lambert $6.3m to promote New Zealand food and drink?
“If I could get the Michelin Guide for that money over three years, that’s what I would do.”
Lambert received his first Michelin star in 2013, just three months after he opened The Musket Room in New York. He held the accolade for seven years, before coming home to a role at The Lodge in Auckland’s Commercial Bay. He had resigned from there 12 days before the Michelin announcement dropped.
“I was going to take a year or so off, but now I’m just supremely motivated … How incredible. I get to do this from home. Honestly, it’s the best thing that I’ve ever heard. I think it’s the most positive thing to happen to our industry since I’ve been alive.”
Chef Matt Lambert is hoping to open his new Ponsonby restaurant Return in time to be in contention for a Michelin star on home territory. Photo / Michael Craig
Lambert is hustling to open on Ponsonby Rd, taking over the space most recently occupied by GiGi. The new restaurant is called Return. The chef has unfinished business.
“I can’t tell you how many people have told me they would have had a Michelin star if Michelin was in New Zealand. It’s easy to say things like this. But having lived how difficult it is to do it, it’s pretty insulting. Now we can find out. Now we’re going to find out if you’re going to get the stars you said you were.
“I busted my arse for three years to try and get two stars. Our food was outstanding, and I had an insanely talented team … my life goal is to do better than I’ve done in the past.”
Lambert acknowledges not every restaurant wants a star – but if they do?
“I’m hoping one of the first things you will experience is heightened levels of service. More attention to the dining room, more attention to the guests and their needs.”
The anonymity of Michelin’s inspectors means chefs need to taste every dish, every time, says Lambert.
“For seven years I was not able to identify an inspector. Do you know how cool that is? That means that every year they came, and they were happy that we were at the level. It means I take every guest seriously. Every guest could be my opportunity to achieve my life goal and get more than one star.”
Chefs will also need to create menus that stand out from the crowd, he says.
“Inspectors don’t want to go to three restaurants and have the same version of heirloom tomatoes, or eight restaurants with the same lamb shoulder.
“I do think they pay a lot of attention to the chef’s personality. And I think a big problem here at times – and it’s a bold thing to say – is there’s a very homogenous approach to the way people cook.
“I can’t get foie gras … red vein sorrel, a very throwaway ingredient that tastes like lemon but looks special on the plate … on any given day I can buy better fish from New Zealand in Melbourne or Brisbane or Sydney … Hopefully chefs start being a little bit more demanding of suppliers and it creates an environment to be creative and use better ingredients.”
A Michelin tourist‘s view
The anonymous reviewer enters the cafe wearing a light blue shirt and black trousers. He has, the day before this interview, described a traditional Provencal sauce at a very high-end Auckland restaurant as “urinous pistou” and a jus as “brutally bitter” but it did not stop him ordering the chocolate mousse.
“I can have a bad experience. I can have a bad dish … why should I deprive myself of potentially having a good dessert or a place redeeming themselves?”
The Auckland-based Instagrammer known as Awful Food Reviews estimates that last year, he dined at 225 different restaurants, 10 of which had been rated three stars by Michelin.
He is a bona fide “Michelin tourist” and he has agreed to speak to the Herald on the condition that (much like your average Michelin inspector) he maintains anonymity.
His verdict on Aotearoa’s star chances?
“I can say with 99.99% confidence, right now we do not have a three-star restaurant at all. At all.”
Looks like a crayfish – but this crustacean’s crust is partly pastry. A 2024 dish from Queenstown restaurant Amisfield. Photo / Benn Jae
He believes Queenstown’s Amisfield is likely to go straight to two stars. In Auckland, Paris Butter could (and in his opinion should) achieve the same. But there are no guarantees and, he warns, “heavy is the crown”.
“In New Zealand, we tend to award change and punish stability … One thing a lot of people don’t know is that once you win three stars, you may not change anything about your restaurant after this. You may do a massive renovation, but in terms of your menu and everything else, you don’t change. Because if your menu is good, Michelin doesn’t punish you for not changing your menu. You have the formula, why would you throw that away? Why would you go and take a risk?”
(One of the world’s most infamous former Michelin chefs once said exactly this in an interview with the Herald. Britain’s Marco Pierre White claimed he had handed back his three stars because “life became quite boring … All of a sudden, you’re now playing a defensive game to retain your position, to protect your reputation, to protect those three stars. It’s a very different strategy … it’s boring, because you’re a conveyor belt. Your whole strategy is no longer an attacking game.”)
Awful Food Reviews says his day job is “in business”. His dining out obsession is a “hobby”. When he travels he consults the Michelin Guide for places to eat.
“Name a more comprehensive guide? I’m sitting here, I’ll wait. People forget it’s not just the stars, it’s the Bib Gourmand, it’s the Select … I know hundreds of people who use the Michelin Guide.”
What does a three-star dinner look like?
“When you sit down, you will not want to leave. You will not want the experience to end. I don’t care how much you love your girlfriend, your boyfriend, how beautiful your date is … I don’t care if you’re dining with your 90-year-old grandfather, and he looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. You will want to stay there.”
The best word he can think of is “intentional” – he might not like a dish, but he knows it’s there for a reason.
“I understand why it’s an integral part. If I removed this dish, or if I did something else … the storytelling would be off. The pacing of the saltiness or sweetness or where you were in the menu.
“Everything is so bloody intentional that you can’t fault it.”
Kim Knight is a senior journalist on the New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle desk. She holds a Masters in Gastronomy and was a restaurant critic for Canvas magazine for five years.