For decades, Michelin stars have helped to point diners towards the world’s exceptional restaurants. One star indicates a high standard of cooking, while two stars point to a unique culinary destination, and three stars indicate near-perfection. There’s also the Bib Gourmand, which, while not a star, is still a recognition of good food offered at reasonable value. But, until recently, there was another accolade in this highly coveted club: The Green Michelin Star.
Announced in 2020 and officially introduced in 2021, the Green Michelin Star signaled to diners that a restaurant was not only serving up top-notch food but also considering its environmental impact. In many of the restaurants awarded a star, ingredients are sourced locally and, in some cases, even grown in on-site vegetable gardens. Food waste is also carefully managed, and recycling, green energy, and reducing plastic use are usually prioritized.
The Green Star was so influential that actor Lucas Bravo even expressed his desire for his Emily in Paris character, chef and restaurateur Gabriel, to earn one on the show.
“I would love for his restaurant to become a vegan restaurant, and for him to get a Green Michelin Star,” Bravo told Grazia back in 2024. “It’s something I’ve been talking about with Darren and producers for two years now, and I hope it’s going to happen.”
But unfortunately, Gabriel won’t be earning a Green Star anytime soon, because Michelin has now retired the accolade. The guide has also told chefs that they cannot advertise any previous Green Stars to the public.
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Michelin Green Star replaced by new Mindful Voices platform
To replace the award, the Michelin Guide has launched a new initiative called Mindful Voices. The new platform aims to highlight chefs and restaurateurs who are taking new, innovative, and pioneering approaches to gastronomy, hospitality, and wine.
“This new framework draws directly from what our inspection teams witness firsthand: encounters and experiences that are transforming how things are done and that deserve to be shared,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides.
“Staying true to its identity and values, the Michelin Guide will amplify and give full resonance to these voices from the worlds of gastronomy, hospitality and wine so that they can be heard, wherever they may be.”
Prospective diners will be able to read about the individuals who are changing the restaurant industry on the Michelin Guide’s Mindful Voices section of its website, as well as through its print magazine.
One of the first chefs to be featured in Mindful Voices is Norwegian Chef Heidi Bjerkan of Credo in Oslo. It’s not a plant-based restaurant, but Bjerkan told the Michelin Guide that she prioritizes local ingredients and reducing waste.
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Despite the launch of Mindful Voices, not everyone is happy about Michelin’s decision to retire the Green Star, which had been awarded to nearly 40 restaurants.
“My heart also goes out to the people who won green stars this year,” Jan Ostle, a British chef, told The Guardian. “For it to be retired the very same year seems unfair.”
We think it’s quite irresponsible for Michelin to build a platform for businesses to thrive from for an accolade and then whisk it away,” another British chef, Piers Milburn, added. “We were enormously proud of it, and now we feel let down by them.”
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
