Eleven Madison Park becomes the World's Best and Only 3 Michelin Starred Vegan Restaurant

There are 73 starred restaurants on Michelin’s 2022 guide to New York City. Just two new restaurants were elevated to two stars status this year: Italian fine dining destination Al Coro and Financial District tasting menu spot Saga. Seventeen restaurants were awarded single stars for the first time, replacing the 11 that either closed or were shut out of awards. There were no changes to the three-star category, which, aside from Eleven Madison Park, also includes the opulent Per Se, the French Japanese Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, French seafood palace Le Bernardin, and sushi spot Masa, the country’s most expensive restaurant.

Local reviewers questioned nearly everything about Eleven Madison Park’s pivot to a plant-based menu last year, from chef Daniel Humm’s cultural awareness and notions of sustainability to a beet that “tastes like Lemon Pledge and smells like a burning joint,” per a Pete Wells column. Michelin disagreed, letting the venue keep its third Michelin star — effectively declaring it the top vegan restaurant in the world.

Although there’s been excitement attached to Atomix, the exquisite Korean tasting menu spot that ranked No. 33 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list this year, there was no promotion from the two-star category.

The most notable loss, however, is for Marea, the ambitious Midtown pasta and seafood destination, which as recently as 2019 had two Michelin stars. “It has a history of meals not quite convincing us,” says the Michelin inspector. “These decisions aren’t made in a year, it’s a longer time span.”

And Peter Luger, the steakhouse that was the subject of a withering Pete Wells review (see below), lost it's star since the inaugural guide of 2006.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/dining/peter-luger-review-pete-wells.htmpeter luger