misconduct allegations<\/a> against former executive chef Vaughan Mabee, who left the restaurant earlier this year.<\/p>\nThe Michelin Guide previously told the Herald it would not comment on individual circumstances, but shared a statement condemning all forms of violence, harassment, or abuse.<\/p>\n
Recognising restaurants that offer exceptional food at reasonable prices, the Bib Gourmand distinction was awarded to 35 establishments.<\/p>\n
A further 60 restaurants were added to the first rung on the Michelin ladder, the Michelin Selected List, having impressed inspectors with their gastronomy.<\/p>\n
The Michelin Guide also recognised standout individuals from across the industry.<\/p>\n
The Michelin Guide Sommelier Award was presented to Matthew Aitchison of the French Cafe, who was said to have built one of the city\u2019s \u201cmost impressive\u201d wine lists.<\/p>\n
In recognition of his distinctive personal style and technical precision, Christchurch chef Robert Fairs was awarded the Michelin Young Chef Award.<\/p>\n
Stina Persen, of Graze, was awarded the Michelin Guide Service Award for hospitality that was described as \u201cattentive without being intrusive\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Graze's]()
Graze’s Stina Persen wins the Michelin Guide Service Award. Photo \/ Alyse Wright <\/p>\n
Kristy Phillips, chief executive of Hospitality New Zealand, said the announcement \u201chighlights the quality and depth of New Zealand\u2019s food scene\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the Michelin Guide for restaurants in New Zealand puts the spotlight on the quality, creativity and professionalism of our hospitality scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it\u2019s significant for those recognised, it\u2019s also a milestone for Aotearoa\u2019s hospitality industry, celebrating and building recognition for New Zealand as a hospitality destination.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand has been campaigning to bring the Michelin Guide to Aotearoa since 2023, culminating in Tourism New Zealand\u2019s $6.3 million partnership with Michelin announced last year.<\/p>\n
Poullennec said inspectors had spent almost a year assessing New Zealand\u2019s dining scene and had been impressed \u201cby the diversity, quality and authenticity found across the four regions\u201d.<\/p>\n
Restaurants assessed by the prestigious guide had to be based in Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington or Queenstown, to the exclusion of major wine regions Marlborough and Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hoped the guide will provide a much-needed boost to New Zealand\u2019s struggling hospitality industry, putting the country on the map as a world-class food destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essence head chef Paul Froggatt (pictured) was speechless after becoming Oceania\u2019s first two-star restaurant. Parnell\u2019s Tala also became…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[145406,1567,1558,682,3390,35142,22503,2837,212736,8231,9872,250794,228,305,78,10005,54677,117,111,43,139,69,13235,11547,10270,1517,5433,5436,3010,102,377,80],"class_list":["post-502444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-145406","tag-awarded","tag-been","tag-being","tag-best","tag-debut","tag-dining","tag-during","tag-establishments","tag-event","tag-finally","tag-glitzy","tag-guide","tag-have","tag-in","tag-list","tag-michelin","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-prestigious","tag-recognised","tag-restaurants","tag-reveals","tag-stage","tag-stars","tag-top","tag-with","tag-world","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}