What is a Michelin star — and what does it take to win one?

For restaurants and their hard-working chefs, earning a Michelin star is the pinnacle of achievement. The grand prize. The crema in the colada. The cherry and the guava on top.

Every year since 1900, the Michelin Guide — the company from which you might also purchase new tires — sends anonymous inspectors around the world to evaluate the hottest restaurants. No, we cannot send Michelin your resumé. Please don’t ask.

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The inspectors eat a lot of fantastic food and take meticulous notes. Their true identities are more closely guarded than Clark Kent’s, and you will have more luck uncovering the secrets of the Illuminati than revealing who they are.

According to the Michelin Guide, the inspectors assess each restaurant on five criteria: quality of ingredients; harmony of flavors; mastery of techniques; the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine; and consistency.

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If a restaurant achieves all these milestones, it will receive a star, meaning it has a quality menu and prepares excellent cuisine to a consistently high standard. It’s worth a stop. Two stars means it’s even better and worth a detour if you’re traveling.

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Three stars means the restaurant is exceptional and worth a special journey and that it will be the highlight of your dining life to eat there.

All this is swell if you win. But beware: Each starred restaurant is monitored throughout the following year. One amuse-bouche goes awry on the wrong night, and you could lose a star.

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In 2022, the first time inspectors came to Florida, 11 Miami restaurants earned Michelin stars, with L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in the Design District earning two. The French restaurant is led by Chef Alain Verzeroli and a team of protégés of the late Joël Robuchon, who held 31 Michelin stars at the time of his death in 2018.

States pay for the possibility of getting in the Michelin Guide. Visit Florida, the state’s marketing organization, paid Michelin $1.5 million over three years to evaluate restaurants in Miami, Orlando and Tampa. But there’s no guarantee: no Tampa restaurants earned a star in 2022. Better luck this year, Tampa.

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