The MICHELIN Guide Türkiye reveals its 2026 restaurant selection

Vino Locale is awarded Two MICHELIN Stars

After earning its first Star during the inaugural selection for Izmir in 2024, Vino Locale ascends to Two Stars. Chef Ozan Kumbasar is celebrating a cuisine that blends Turkish terroir with subtle influences from Thailand, Japan and beyond. Tucked away in a leafy corner just outside Izmir, Vino Locale feels like it truly belongs to its place. Ozan and Seray Kumbasar focus on making local and seasonal ingredients shine, while the menu moves gracefully between land, sea and vegetables, always blending character and identity. Seray’s service and wine pairings further elevate the experience, reflecting deep professionalism and warmth.

Vino Locale is the first restaurant to ever receive Two Stars in Izmir. It is also the second restaurant to reach this distinction in Türkiye, as it will share the Two-Star stage with TURK FATİH TUTAK.

Three restaurants earn their first MICHELIN Star across the country

Revithia earns Cappadocia its first Star with cuisine inspired by nearly forgotten recipes, revived through modern textures and deep flavor. Located within the UNESCO-recognized Kayakapı site, the restaurant honors regional traditions such as lamb cooked in milk, fermented grains and milk consumed as a soup called tarhana, and local condiments that shape Chef Duran Özdemir’s vibrant and expressive menu.

In Istanbul, Araf, led by Chefs Kenan Çetinkaya and Pınar Korgan Çetinkaya, receives its first Star for a tiny, characterful counter restaurant built around an open fire. It showcases cooking that prioritizes taste, ingredient quality and technique. Their cooking is sincere and bold, revealing the depth of Turkish flavors in their purest form.

In Muğla, Mezra Yalıkavak, located in a beautiful establishment just outside the outskirts of Yalıkavak, is led by Chef Serhat Doğramacı. The chef delivers a menu anchored in protected Turkish products and ancestral cooking techniques. Set amid gardens, livestock and a working farm, the restaurant blends wood fire, fermentation, grilling and marinating with thoughtful, elegant compositions. Desserts, crafted by the chef’s wife, provide a standout finale to a captivating experience.

With these new additions, the total of One-Star restaurants in Türkiye reaches 15.

16 new Bib Gourmands

The Bib Gourmand award, introduced by The MICHELIN Guide in 1997, recognizes selected restaurants offering excellent food at an affordable price. The selection now features a total of 39 Bib Gourmands, with 16 new entries across Istanbul, Izmir, Muğla and Cappadocia, contributing to a strengthened national selection.

Among them, Kemal’in Yeri Mülkiyeliler Birliği and Partal Kardeşler Balık Restorant showcase the best of Izmir’s local traditions and products. Muğla also welcomes Mandalya and Mezegi as the region’s two new Bib Gourmands for their fresh and affordable cuisines that never disappoint.

Cappadocia enters the Guide with five new Bib Gourmands, including Babayan Evi, which also receives a Green Star for its generous traditional plates and deep respect for Cappadocia’s land and produce.

Four Restaurants Receive the Green Star

The Green Star aims to highlight restaurants whose commitments have impressed the inspection team through inspiring practices that help shape the gastronomy of tomorrow. This year, four restaurants have been awarded the Green Star by The MICHELIN Guide’s inspection team for their innovative initiatives: TURK FATİH TUTAK (Istanbul), Orfoz (Muğla), Teruar Urla (Izmir) and Babayan Evi (Cappadocia).

Three MICHELIN Special Awards

The MICHELIN Young Chef Award 2026, presented by Jumbo
This award goes to the talented young chef Duru Akgül behind Yakamengen III in Muğla. She is only 29 years old, but her cooking already shows a remarkable mix of technical skill and deep connection to her region, amplified by international experience earned while working abroad. Housed in a beautifully restored old oil mill in Yaka village, her menu celebrates seasonal ingredients from local farmers and fisheries. She is particularly passionate about overlooked species like blue crab and lionfish, which she then turns into dishes both thoughtful and delicious. Her signature blue crab salad, which she tops with crispy zucchini fritters and fragrant spices, perfectly captures her approach: generous, precise and full of flavor.

The MICHELIN Sommelier Award 2026
The award was given to Ersin Topkara of Neolokal in Istanbul, a One-Star and Green Star restaurant. His knowledge of Turkish wines runs deep, and his list is remarkable for its showcase of what Türkiye's wine regions can produce. Since his return to Neolokal, the Inspectors have once again been impressed by his flair for selecting wines that not only complement the food but also tell a story about the restaurant itself. His pairings are proof of his careful study, a sensitive palate and a deeply felt commitment to spreading the culture of Turkish wine.

The MICHELIN Service Award 2026, presented by Olivana
This award goes to Ezgi Serdaroğlu at Teruar Urla in Izmir. She runs the dining room with an impressive combination of professionalism, instinct and genuine warmth. She often refers to herself as the "orchestrator of the Teruar experience," and rightly so. She keeps everything in flow between the kitchen and dining room, in support of Chef Osman Serdaroğlu's vision, while guiding her team with both precision and heart. Thanks to her watchful eyes, perfect timing and sense of hospitality, every guest is taken care of from the very start of a meal until the very end.

38 establishments are added to the list of MICHELIN-Selected restaurants 

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