{"id":4512,"date":"2026-06-30T08:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T08:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=4512"},"modified":"2026-06-30T08:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T08:35:59","slug":"the-first-new-zealand-michelin-guide-has-officially-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=4512","title":{"rendered":"The First New Zealand Michelin Guide Has Officially Launched"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>These are the restaurants to book for your next trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/06\/01.26parisbuttereightcourse7111-300x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"paris butter dish new zealand michelin guide\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The 2027 New Zealand <a href=\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/finest-dining\/restaurants-finest-dining\/how-the-prestigious-michelin-star-system-really-works\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michelin Guide<\/a> has officially launched, marking the tyre-company-cum-restaurant-directory\u2019s first presence in Oceania.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For its New Zealand edition, Michelin concentrated on four key culinary destinations: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown. &#171;We are thrilled to bring the Michelin Guide to Aotearoa New Zealand for the very first time,\u201d said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, when the guide was first announced. \u201cThe country offers a rich and diverse culinary landscape, shaped by its indigenous M\u0101ori heritage, Pacific influences, and a new generation of chefs who champion local produce with creativity and passion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the awards, onlookers questioned how Michelin would handle New Zealand\u2019s restaurant scene, which errs more heavily on the casual side than \u2018fine\u2019 dining. Its dining landscape is heavily shaped by the principle of \u2018<em>Manaakitanga<\/em>\u2019 \u2013 a M\u0101ori tradition that prioritizes warm, generous, and respectful hospitality. It is potentially in light of this rejection of formality that means New Zealand is still without a three Michelin-starred restaurant. Just one restaurant, Queenstown\u2019s Essence, received two stars, and 14 were awarded one.<\/p>\n<p>Among the new one stars is Tala in Auckland, which serves a Samoan-inspired tasting menu. \u201cMichelin coming to New Zealand is great for the hospitality scene and the focus it will bring on NZ cuisine at an international level,\u201d said owner and executive chef Henry Onesemo. \u201cI have always thought New Zealand cuisine was of a world-class standard, and with Michelin it will finally be recognized as such.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/finest-dining\/michelin-star-recipes-you-can-make-home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>See also: Michelin-Star Recipes You Can Make at Home<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/06\/tnz_mbh_picton_zor_78401-2560x1920.jpg\" alt=\"michelin guide new zealand fish being caught\" class=\"wp-image-265280\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u00a9Michelin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A fellow Auckland one-star recipient was Paris Butter. \u201cWhile the restaurant scene in NZ is relatively young compared to the rest of the world, it is definitely punching above its weight,\u201d said chef and co-owner Zennon Wijlens. The arrival of Michelin is \u201csuper exciting not only for the hospitality industry but for NZ as a whole,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Stars were also awarded to Tussock Hill in Christchurch, Kika in W\u0101naka, and The Estate on Waiheke Island. There was speculation surrounding the fate of Amisfield, a restaurant within a winery in Queenstown that has routinely been named as one of the country\u2019s best but was marred by controversy surrounding former chef Vaughan Mabee. Michelin was happy to overlook this, and Amisfield was awarded one star.<\/p>\n<p>The ceremony also saw 35 restaurants awarded a Bib Gourmand \u2013 Michelin\u2019s recognition for destinations that serve \u2018good food at moderate prices.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It may come as a surprise to hear that New Zealand is getting its first Michelin guide ranking before Australia. The latter has more international flights and over double the number of international visitors per year, and, to many, a more influential dining scene.<\/p>\n<p>So, how did New Zealand get the inspectors in first? Simply, money talks \u2013 or rather, money grants stars. Individual restaurants cannot pay to get a Michelin star, nor can they pay for inspectors to visit, but tourism boards and government bodies can fund the guide\u2019s presence in a country; Michelin still holds ultimate discretion over how many stars go out and who gets them. The practice has become standard for new Michelin locations (Australia is following the same tact, and will get its own guide this fall).<\/p>\n<p>The launch of the nation\u2019s first Michelin Guide follows hot on the heels of the launch of its inaugural Michelin Keys award, which highlighted 19 leading hotels across New Zealand, including Rosewood Cape Kidnappers, Blanket Bay, and The Lindis.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Zealand&#8217;s Michelin-starred restaurants<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Two stars<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Essence, Queenstown<\/p>\n<p><strong>One star<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ahi., Auckland<\/p>\n<p>Amisfield, Queenstown<\/p>\n<p>Inati, Christchurch<\/p>\n<p>Logan Brown, Wellington<\/p>\n<p>Jano Bistro, Wellington<\/p>\n<p>Kika, W\u0101naka<\/p>\n<p>Mudbrick, Waiheke Island<\/p>\n<p>Ortega, Wellington<\/p>\n<p>Paris Butter, Auckland<\/p>\n<p>R\u0101t\u0101, Queenstown<\/p>\n<p>Sherwood, Queenstown<\/p>\n<p>Tala, Auckland<\/p>\n<p>The Estate, Waiheke Island<\/p>\n<p>Tussock Hill, Christchurch<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These are the restaurants to book for your next trip.\u00a0 The 2027 New Zealand Michelin Guide has officially launched, marking the tyre-company-cum-restaurant-directory\u2019s first presence in Oceania.\u00a0 For its New Zealand edition, Michelin concentrated on four key culinary destinations: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown. &#171;We are thrilled to bring the Michelin Guide to Aotearoa New Zealand [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}