On Wednesday night in Las Vegas, the Michelin Guide unveiled its first-ever selection for the American Southwest, a region covering Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The ceremony took place at the Fontainebleau in front of chefs and restaurateurs from across the region: before that night, no Arizona restaurant had ever had a shot at a Michelin star.
The verdict came without much ceremony of its own. Only five restaurants received a star, and none of them are in Arizona. Restaurant de Joël Robuchon, in Las Vegas, took the top spot with two stars. One star went to L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Guy Savoy, both in Las Vegas, as well as é by José Andrés in Las Vegas and Monte in Salt Lake City. For the Phoenix and Scottsdale kitchens hoping for a star, the night stopped one rung short.
That rung isn’t a minor consolation prize. Seven Phoenix-area restaurants earned a Bib Gourmand, Michelin’s distinction for good food at a fair price: FnB, Huarachis Taqueria, Kid Sister, Little Miss BBQ, Lom Wong, Pizzeria Bianco and Valentine. Twelve more restaurants, from Flagstaff to Phoenix to Scottsdale, made the “Selected Restaurants” list, Michelin’s nod to above-average cooking that stops short of a star.
Arizona’s real win of the night came from somewhere else. Michelin introduced a new award this year, Mindful Voices, for people reshaping gastronomy, hospitality or wine. It went to Charleen Badman, chef and co-owner of FnB in Scottsdale, known for her work with growers in the Sonoran Desert. “It’s just really an honor to represent the farmers, our winemakers and all of Arizona,” she said from the stage. The state also picked up two more individual awards: sommelier honors for John Germain of Reserve in Scottsdale, and young chef honors for Rene Andrade of Bacanora and Huarachis Taqueria in Phoenix.
Michelin first landed in North America in New York in 2005 and now covers sixteen regions on the continent. Las Vegas, for its part, was getting its first Michelin ceremony in more than fifteen years: the last one, in 2009, had already crowned Joël Robuchon with three stars.