Another year, another poorly produced yawner of a Michelin ceremony. You’d think with all the dough Visit Florida, Visit Orlando, Visit Tampa Bay, Visit St. Pete and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau have paid Michelin, that they’d use it to get Ricky Gervais to host.
But I’m not here to skewer Michelin like a kebab for their processes and practices — rather, to celebrate the wins of our local restaurants, namely Sorekara, William Shen’s high-concept stunner, which became just the second restaurant in Florida to earn a 2-Michelin star rating, joining L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon as the only restaurants in Florida to earn the honor.
Last month, I predicted both Sorekara and Ryan Ratino’s Ômo by Jônt, which happened to place No. 1 and No. 2 as my Top Tables of 2024, would receive two Michelin stars. But the latter earned one Michelin star, joining a slew of other Euro-centric tasting menu restaurants and Japanese-leaning establishments like Camille, Kadence, Natsu, Papa Llama, Soseki and Victoria & Albert’s.
“Surreal, just surreal,” said an ebullient William Shen after accepting the award. “I’m so happy for the team because I know how hard they work and I just feel so blessed to have everyone I love here.”
Capa, the Spanish steakhouse at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando, site of this year’s ceremony, also earned a Michelin star for the fourth year running.
That brings the total number of Michelin-starred restaurants in this city to nine.
Sorekara’s Austin Joseph garnered Michelin’s Outstanding Service Award, while Kaya earned a Green Star Award for its sustainable practices for the second year running.
New restaurants earning Bib Gourmands (those are places offering exceptionally good food at moderate prices) include Banh Mi Boy and UniGirl inside Mills Market, Palm Beach Meats, Smokemade Meats + Eats and Coro, my favorite restaurant opening of 2024.
If you’re curious about all the Florida restaurants an elitist and secretive organization founded with rubber-tire money decided to honor Thursday night, you can read the full list here.
Related Stories
The Imperial returns to Winter Park at a new location
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2025.