Michelin’s three-star rankings remained the same, but a number of New York restaurants moved off the one- and two-star lists when the Michelin Guide’s 2022 star rankings for New York were announced Thursday evening at a gala celebration at Peak in Hudson Yards in Manhattan. The top restaurants remain the same as last year: Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, Masa and Per Se. But there were changes in other categories.
Al Coro and Saga both were awarded two stars. With L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Blanca and Ichimura at Uchu closed and removed from the two-star list, there are 13 in that category this year, down from 14. The restaurants with one star went from 49 to 55.
In Manhattan the new one-stars are 63 Clinton, Dirt Candy, Frevo, Icca, Joomak Banjum, L’Abeille, Le Pavillon, Mari, Noz 17, Oiji Mi, One White Street, Red Paper Clip, Semma, Shion 69 Leonard Street, Torien and Yoshino. The only Brooklyn addition is Clover Hill.
The one-star list lost 11 restaurants this year. Some, like Kajitsu and Benno, have closed. Others dropped included Peter Luger, Wallsé, Meadowsweet, L’Appart and the Clocktower. Major Food Group’s Carbone and ZZ’s Clam Bar, and Altamarea’s Ai Fiori and Marea, all lost their one-star ratings.
The head inspector for North America, who remains anonymous, said in an interview that they do not take ownership or chefs into consideration when assigning stars and that decisions about demotions are made as seriously as promotions. “It’s an assessment of several meals over time,” he said.
In the Bib Gourmand category, recognizing good value, 18 restaurants were added, for a total of 125, compared with 131 last year. That slight decrease, along with the more dramatic drop in the number of restaurants cited for offering a meal for less than $25 (a total of 23 this year, compared with 42 last year), likely reflect price increases in the restaurant world.
The top sommelier award was given to Nikita Malhotra of Ko, named best pastry chef was Kelly Nam of Joomak Banjum, best young chef was Charlie Mitchell of Clover Hill and the award for exceptional cocktails went to Philip Dizard of Noda. Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin was cited for the Michelin mentor chef award.
Last year’s guide covered New York City and Westchester County, with both areas in the title. This year Westchester was included with Blue Hill at Stone Barns maintaining two stars, and with several Bib Gourmands, but the county was not part of the title; it’s now simply 2022 Michelin Guide New York. There are no printed guidebooks.
Michelin.com.