Which Florida restaurants earned Michelin stars for 2023? See who made the guide
Four more Florida restaurants have earned stars in the 2023 Michelin Guide, including one in Miami Beach and three in Tampa.
At a ceremony at loanDepot Park in Miami on Thursday night, Michelin awarded a star to The Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt at the Carillon Miami Wellness Beach Resort in Miami Beach, which serves French cuisine with Asian influences; Koya, a small Japanese spot in Tampa; the Florida-forward Lilac at the Tampa Edition hotel; and Italian restaurant Rocca in Tampa.
Here’s where you can find all of Miami’s Michelin-starred restaurants
No Orlando restaurants were added to the 2023 guide.
Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, praised the dining landscapes of Miami, Orlando and Tampa, all of which entered the Michelin Guide for the first time in 2022.
“Florida has three distinct culinary hot spots that make the state a premier destination for gourmet-travelers, who can experience a wealth of flavors and creative cooking styles,” Poullennec said.
According to the Michelin Guide, anonymous inspectors visit each restaurant multiple times and assess them on five criteria: quality of ingredients; harmony of flavors; mastery of techniques; the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine; and consistency. One star means a restaurant has a quality menu, prepares excellent cuisine to a consistently high standard is worth a visit. Two stars means it’s even better and worth a detour if you’re traveling; three stars means it’s worthy of a special trip, even if it’s out of your way.
Here’s what the guide had to say about the 2023 starred additions:
Koya: At this eight-seat counter, “Adriana and Eric Fralick keep a watchful eye over the experience,” Michelin writes, “where a multicourse contemporary tasting menu shares a singular interpretation of Japanese cuisine. The dishes are often unexpected yet always thoughtful. Spectacular seafood is a given: staple luxuries like bluefin tuna and uni are flown in weekly from Kagoshima market. . . . Dishes offer unique combinations of Eastern and Western culinary sensibilities, as in the beet- and vodka-smoked salmon macaroon or a chutoro hand roll with wasabi guacamole.”
Lilac: Inside the Edition hotel, this restaurant from John Fraser “has a sexy vibe, albeit not a stitch of lilac in sight. Peruse the contemporary four-course prix-fixe with Mediterranean influences, Florida-focused ingredients and French techniques. A meal might include luxe bites like a Diver scallop infused with rosemary smoke and dramatically served under a cloche to well-execute and flavorful lobster feuillantine. Main dishes include Ora King salmon with a Florida stone crab salad or Colorado lamb chop with tender leeks and house-made lamb sausage.”
Rocca: Chef Bryce Bonsack blends his New York know-how with Italian training to great effect in this of-the-moment eatery. Naturally, there’s an assortment of pastas, skillfully made in house and showcasing classic flavors and scrupulous technique, as in spaghetti al limone, tossed with knobs of blue crab and lemon, shaved garlic and zucchini. Guests gush over mozzarella hand-pulled to order in a tableside cart, but the flavor outshines the show. Perhaps most exciting of all are the displays of originality, as in a vibrant hiramasa carpaccio with green apple, capers and horseradish.”
The Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt: At Miami Beach’s Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, “find this ambitious dining bijou helmed by Chef Tristan Brandt and his trusted lieutenant Timo Steubing. The duo delivers a colorful, multicourse tasting grounded in French cuisine with notable Asian inspiration. The results are anything but timid: Expect rich, bold sauces and foams made with the likes of parmesan, lobster and saffron, and ginger turbocharging everything from tomatoes to scallops to wagyu. By contrast, the space itself is fairly spartan, sequestered off to the side of the main hotel bar and defined mostly by oversized oak tables, blue leather chairs and modern light fixtures. Swing for the second seating of the evening for a longer menu.”
This intimate restaurant in a luxury Miami Beach resort just earned a Michelin star
John Fraser, chef/owner of Lilac in Tampa was excited about being one of the first Tampa restaurants to earn a star. In 2022, no Tampa restaurants earned a star.
“It’s a validation of all the hard work of my team and the leadership. It’s a great feeling,” he said. “Tampa deserves this. It’s an emerging food scene.”
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Miami in the city’s luxurious Design District retained both stars, so it remains the only Florida restaurant to earn two Michelin stars.
“So honored to carry on the legacy as Florida’s only two-star Michelin restaurant,” said James Friedberg, executive chef at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Le Jardinier Miami. “Can’t wait to push for that third star next year.”
All the other Miami-area restaurants that earned a star in 2022 retained their stars as well: Ariete in Coconut Grove; Boia De in Little Haiti; Cote Miami in the Design District; The Den at Azabu in Miami Beach; Elcielo in Miami; Hiden in Wynwood; Le Jardinier in the Design District; Los Félix in Coconut Grove; Stubborn Seed in Miami Beach; and The Surf Club in Surfside.
The four restaurants in Orlando starred in 2022 also retained their stars: Capa, a steakhouse at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World; Soseki, which serves fusion and sushi); Japanese sushi spot Kadence; and steakhouse Knife & Spoon at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando.
Michelin also announced a few special awards at Thursday’s ceremony. The Michelin Exceptional Cocktails award went to the team at Miami’s Jaguar Sun, while the Sommelier award went to Benjamin Coutts of Soseki in Orlando. The Outstanding Service award when to Matthew Braden at Tampa’s Lilac, with the Young Chef award going to Christina Theofilos of Psomi restaurant in Tampa.
