{"id":26093,"date":"2025-10-29T12:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/26093\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:20:14","slug":"inside-dallas-two-michelin-starred-restaurants-now-the-most-famous-eateries-in-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/26093\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dallas\u2019 two Michelin-starred restaurants \u2014 now the most famous eateries in town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earning a Michelin star in Dallas-Fort Worth<\/a> is one of the most intense culinary challenges a Texas chef can face<\/a>. It takes talent. <\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t necessarily take time.<\/p>\n

At the 2025 Michelin Guide Texas ceremony on Oct. 28, 2025, two Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants received a 1-star honor. The newest honoree, Mamani in Uptown Dallas<\/a>, has served fewer than 50 dinners. The second honoree, Tatsu Dallas in Deep Ellum<\/a>, debuted in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to admit, I\u2019m a little speechless,\u201d said Mamani\u2019s executive chef and partner Christophe De Lellis right after the ceremony. He was still wearing his new white chef\u2019s coat given to each of the new Michelin star recipients.<\/p>\n

Restaurant News<\/p>\n

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\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi (center left) of Tatsu Dallas with his wife Hiroko (left) are pictured with some of the other Dallas winners, Chas Martin (center right) and Benji Homsey. Martin was honored for his Exceptional Cocktails at Mister Charles in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

For Tatsuya Sekiguchi, the chef of Tatsu Dallas, his feeling was \u201crelief.\u201d His restaurant received 1 Michelin star in 2024<\/a> \u2014 Dallas\u2019 only star<\/a> that year. Michelin requires that each eatery re-earn its star every year. If the food doesn\u2019t remain at a high enough standard, restaurants risk being stripped of a star.<\/p>\n

Mamani and Tatsu, now in a fraternity all their own, are likely to see more diners vying for a reservation following the Michelin ceremony. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look inside both of Dallas-Fort Worth\u2019s Michelin-starred restaurants.<\/p>\n

Mamani Dallas: an ode to a famous French chef<\/p>\n

De Lellis wanted his restaurant to earn a Michelin star. But he didn\u2019t expect to see Mamani on the Michelin stage so soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a little confused when we received the invitation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe came to the ceremony really humble.\u201d <\/p>\n

Put another way: They tried to keep expectations low, in case they left disappointed.<\/p>\n

\"French-Italian<\/p>\n

French-Italian restaurant Mamani opened Sept. 2, 2025 in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The restaurant has served just 48 dinners, including the night De Lellis missed service while at the Michelin ceremony with restaurant partners Henry and Brandon Cohanim. Michelin inspectors did not believe that short amount of time was too little \u2014 an impressive and surprising feat.<\/p>\n

Mamani is a French restaurant and a love letter to Paris, where De Lellis grew up. It\u2019s also where the Cohanims\u2019 grandmother \u2014 that\u2019s \u201cMamani\u201d \u2014 has lived. The menu has some Italian influences, too, which honors De Lellis\u2019 Italian grandparents.<\/p>\n

De Lellis spent nearly 15 years working in Jo\u00ebl Robuchon restaurants, and he considers the French chef his greatest mentor. Robuchon\u2019s restaurants collected dozens of Michelin stars over the years, and that level of greatness was on De Lellis\u2019 mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think about it even if you don\u2019t want to think about it,\u201d the chef said. He called winning a star \u201ca dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Christophe De Lellis makes a scallop and caviar appetizer at Mamani.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The reason De Lellis moved to Dallas in the first place is because the Cohanim brothers loved the food at Robuchon restaurants, and they persistently persuaded the French chef to move to Texas and open his own restaurant inspired by Robuchon\u2019s philosophies.<\/p>\n

In essence, Mamani in Dallas is an expression of Robuchon, even after his death in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I make my own dishes, I pass it through the Robuchon filter,\u201d De Lellis said. \u201cI ask myself: Do you think he will like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

This, perhaps, is what French company Michelin felt when dining at Mamani.<\/p>\n

For diners trying to get a seat at Mamani, De Lellis encourages them to order the whole duck or the veal cordon bleu, two entrees that embody his style of cooking. (And they\u2019re some of the pricier items on the menu.) But there\u2019s one more thing from Mamani: a side of mashed potatoes.<\/p>\n

Mamani serves Robuchon\u2019s pommes pur\u00e9e \u2014 the ones he was famous for. (When asked how they\u2019re prepared, De Lellis said politely, \u201cI cannot tell you the recipe.\u201d Just know it involves high-quality, unsalted French butter. Lots of it.)<\/p>\n

The team at Mamani make those potatoes every day, a constant reminder of where De Lellis came from. <\/p>\n

He said of Robuchon\u2019s legacy: \u201cHe\u2019s always with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamani is at 2681 Howell St., Dallas.<\/p>\n

Tatsu Dallas: the essence of Japan, in Texas\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi of Tatsu Dallas with his wife, Hiroko Sekiguchi, wait with anticipation to see if their name is called at the Michelin Guide Texas ceremony in 2025. (It was.)<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Tatsu chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi and his wife, Hiroko Sekiguchi, might have been the most nervous people in the Michelin ceremony. She: Fingers on one hand tightly crossed, as if to keep from jinxing their odds of earning their star for a second year. He: A man of few words, sliding his cream-colored cowboy hat down a bit more as he waited on the results.<\/p>\n

They needn\u2019t be worried, as Tatsuya Sekiguchi was widely considered a shoo-in for another Michelin star. But chef Tatsu, a fourth-generation sushi chef raised in Japan, is a perfectionist. He opened his restaurant three years ago in Dallas\u2019 Deep Ellum, where a modern dining room seats just 10 people at a time for a 90-minute omakase dinner that costs $185 per person. <\/p>\n

Tatsu is one of Dallas smallest and most focused restaurants \u2014 a winning combo for Michelin, it seems.<\/p>\n

Now that Sekiguchi has earned the star again, he\u2019s already focused on next year.<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi separates the bones from the fish as he prepares for service at his restaurant Tatsu Dallas.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

He has learned \u201cto never be satisfied with where I am,\u201d Sekiguchi said. \u201cI\u2019m always trying to brush up my skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than open a bottle of Champagne or treat themselves to a late-night dinner \u2014 as many chefs did after the Michelin Guide Texas ceremony \u2014 the Sekiguchis immediately got into their car and drove four hours home to Dallas in the dark.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/p>\n

Sekiguchi will wake up early the next day and drive to DFW Airport at 8 a.m. to pick up his twice-weekly supply of fish<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Couldn\u2019t someone else do the pickup the night after winning a Michelin star, we asked? Could he move it to another day?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he said. It wasn\u2019t a sacrifice. It\u2019s just how it works when you\u2019re Sekiguchi.<\/p>\n

Tatsu Dallas is at 3309 Elm St., Dallas.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

Both chefs at Dallas\u2019 Michelin-starred restaurants are back to work. No rest for the restaurateurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to go back and celebrate with everyone,\u201d all three Mamani partners said. They seemed eager to bring the award back to their teams, making a special note that the star was earned by a large group of high-achieving people. <\/p>\n

But, De Lellis notes: \u201cI\u2019m back in the kitchen tomorrow\u201d \u2014 less than 24 hours after getting a star.<\/p>\n

Same with Sekiguchi of Tatsu Dallas: The restaurant is open the day after the Michelin ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack to work,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

This story is part of The Dallas Morning News\u2019 coverage of the Michelin Guide Texas. Read more<\/a> about the restaurant picks in Dallas-Fort Worth and across Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earning a Michelin star in Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the most intense culinary challenges a Texas chef…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4902,2808,102,324,104,103,3949,5459,320,18279,5468,16044,5458,1623,354,5464,27,5391],"class_list":["post-26093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-best-restaurants","tag-chefs","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-fortworth","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-deep-ellum","tag-fine-dining","tag-food-and-drink","tag-french-food","tag-italian-food","tag-japanese-food","tag-michelin-guide","tag-restaurant-news","tag-restaurants","tag-sushi","tag-texas","tag-uptown-dallas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}