The Michelin Guide has set a date for the 2024 Atlanta restaurant selections.
The invite-only ceremony will take place Oct. 28 at the Georgia World Congress Center.
The ceremony will be the second for Michelin Guide Atlanta. Last year’s debut event, which took place in downtown Atlanta at the Rialto Center, recognized five local restaurants with one Michelin star, including Mujo, Lazy Betty, Bacchanalia, Hayawaka and Atlas. Stars are awarded to restaurants “serving exceptional cuisine that’s rich in flavor, remarkably executed and infused with the personality of a talented chef,” according to the Michelin Guide.
More than 25 other metro Atlanta restaurants were recognized in other categories, including Bib Gourmand, awarded to restaurants for serving good food at moderate prices; Green Stars, given to restaurants for sustainable gastronomy; and Recommended, designated to restaurants for above-average food.
For the 2023 guide, inspectors only evaluated restaurants within the confines of the I-285 perimeter, according to Andrew Festa of Michelin North America. When last year’s selections were announced, Festa said that the radius for the city’s 2024 guide had yet to be determined, but added that “the coverage area often expands in future editions of the Guide.”
Michelin Guide Atlanta is released in partnership with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB). While the ACVB made a strong push for Atlanta’s inclusion as a Michelin destination and worked with Michelin Guide on marketing and promotion, the ACVB was not involved in the restaurant selection process, which remains independent.
Starred restaurants are evaluated by anonymous Michelin inspectors who assess the quality of the cuisine based on quality of products, mastery of cooking technique, harmony and balance of flavors, personality of the chef as expressed in the cuisine, and consistency between visits and throughout the menu.
A one-star rating equates to “high-quality cooking”; a two-star rating denotes “excellent cooking”; and the highest, a three-star rating, indicates “exceptional cuisine.”
Stars are not permanent. Restaurants can acquire or lose stars as part of the evaluation process for issuing a new guide each year.
The Michelin Guide, owned by the French tire manufacturer of the same name, was conceived by brothers André and Edouard Michelin, with the 400-page first edition Guide Michelin France making its debut at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. It was a handbook with maintenance guides, maps, petrol stations, hotels, restaurants and even post offices. But its real purpose was to encourage automobile travel that would result in an increase in tire sales.
Nearly 125 years later, the Guide can be an economic driver for Michelin destination cities. According to a 2019 study by Ernst & Young, two-thirds of frequent travelers said they would choose to visit a destination with a Michelin Guide presence over a comparable location without one. Of these travelers, 57% would extend their stay if a Michelin selection was offered and 71% would increase their spending.
“We are excited to reveal what year two has in store for the 2024 restaurant selection in Atlanta,” said Gwendal Poullennec, the International Director of the Michelin Guides, in a prepared statement. “The culinary scene in Atlanta continues to shine a light on the tastes of the South, while also offering a diversity of international cuisines to foodies. Our anonymous Inspectors continue to be impressed in the talent they have witnessed firsthand throughout the local restaurant community.”
Michelin announced its first North American Guide in 2005 for New York. Guides have also been added in Chicago, Washington, D.C., California (San Francisco in 2007, statewide 2019); Miami/Orlando/Tampa, Toronto, Vancouver, Colorado, Mexico, Texas, and Quebec.
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