MICHELIN Guide Inspectors spend all year on the road uncovering the best restaurants to recommend—and their discoveries are too good to keep secret. Whet your appetite with a sneak peek of the 2024 MICHELIN Guide Florida selection featuring nineteen new additions spread across the Sunshine State!
From key lime pies to Cuban sandwiches, Florida's ever-growing list of MICHELIN Guide restaurants (137 if you're keeping count) is as diverse as they come. With this year's newest additions spread across Miami, Orlando, and Tampa that list has gotten even larger.
This year, Miami saw the arrival of eight newcomers. Those that want a dinner-only spot should head on over to EntreNos, where Chefs Evan Burgess and Osmel Gonzalez serve up a contemporary à la carte menu sourced primary from Florida ingredients. Want finger foods instead? Then look towards Tam Tam, where wings glossed in fish sauce caramel await.
Fans of Japanese cuisine in Orlando are in luck, too. Zaru offers an upbeat playlist along with plates of chewy noodles, while Sushi Saint and Natsu focus on temaki and an intimate omakase experience respectively.
Tampa, on the other hand, saw an influx of more casual spots like the sandwiches at Supernatural Food & Wine, house-made pastas at Predalina, and tacos at Streetlight Taco.
Last, but certainly not least, is Chuan Fu at Winter Park. Expect a large Szechuan menu filled with classics that bring the heat with every dish.
Below, get the scoop on all the latest additions to the Florida selection!
Miami
EntreNos
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chefs Evan Burgess and Osmel Gonzalez are at the helm of this dinner-only spot where a tightly edited à la carte menu puts the spotlight on Florida's seasons (and almost everything is sourced from the Sunshine State). The smoked dry-aged cobia is a perfect example of what this place does so well.
Tam Tam
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Husband-and-husband team Tam Pham and Harrison Ramhofer are throwing a party on their own terms. Come as you are for this celebration of Vietnamese cooking that started out as a supper club. Much of the food doesn’t require silverware: Think wings glossed in fish sauce caramel. Bold, funky, and fun, the restaurant is a good time all around, down to the hidden karaoke machine.
Pez
Cuisine: Mexican
Pop over to Pez in downtown Miami for a taste of Baja. Choose from an array of tempting menu items but don't skip the Ensenada-style tacos for a true taste of the coast. And, while the usual array of ceviches is on offer, the one to order is the atún con “mashaca," made with diced yellowfin tuna, dried shredded beef and habanero cream for a thoroughly unexpected delight.
Kaori
Cuisine: Asian
Upscale Asian fusion menus are a dime a dozen in Magic City, but this attractive Brickell restaurant is a cut above the rest. The space is sized on the more intimate side and, fittingly so, the menu is equally well measured. Indulgent wagyu and foie gras gyoza arrive with picture-perfect searing, and bluefin tuna comes dressed in a sharp coconut-lime sauce.
Maty's
Cuisine: Peruvian
With the beloved Itamae now closed, Chef Valerie Chang strikes out on her own with this full-service follow-up in Midtown. Pulling inspiration from her childhood and from her grandmother, after whom the restaurant is named, Chang uses quality seafood to deliver bright, citrus-forward Peruvian flavors. Those who’ve eaten with Chang before will recognize some of the dishes: Black grouper, kanpachi and ocean trout arrive dressed with the likes of aji dulce, kiwiberries, finger limes and passionfruit.
Ossobuco
Cuisine: Contemporary
Wynwood’s newest tenant is making some noise in an already-bustling zip code. Indeed, the steakhouse portion of the menu offers obvious appeal but so too do the lighter courses. Smoked baby beets with ricotta mousse is right on target, while the ossobuco empanada and sweetbreads with wagyu potato purée are the makings of a meal of their own. A stylish patio with a vibe of its own, a thoughtful cocktail list worth digging into, and a weekend DJ who knows how to work a room seal the deal.
Ogawa
Cuisine: Japanese
Chef/co-owner Masayuki Komatsu commands a presence with an omakase that stuns with a series of enticing cooked dishes and a procession of focused and skillful nigiri. From baby sea eels with a soy-cured quail egg and bigfin reef squid in a shiso-miso sauce to baby snow crab and Japanese-style herring roe, this appetizer of four bites is the first sign that this isn't your typical sushi counter.
Shingo
Cuisine: Japanese
Chef Shingo Akikuni, ever gracious and welcoming, has returned, now back in action behind a spacious, 14-seat counter in Coral Gables. Chef Akikuni and his second-in-command handle the crowd without breaking a sweat and even switch sides midway through the meal. Fish is sourced almost entirely from Japan, sliced in uniform fashion, and, dressed with little more than a swipe of nikiri. They keep a close eye on the seasons too.
Orlando
Zaru
Cuisine: Japanese
This sleek, Mills 50 eatery is located in the same strip as the Tien Hung Market. With an upbeat playlist and an attractive dining room, the restaurant specializes in chewy noodles made from wheat sourced from Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture. Ikura, tempura and top-notch ingredients like Hokkaido uni and A5 Kagoshima wagyu pair with broths of wonderful smokiness and depth.
Sushi Saint
Cuisine: Japanese
Mike Collantes, Chef/owner of Soseki, has another hit on his hands with Sushi Saint. This downtown temaki spot lures guests with its lounge-y vibe and contemporary design. The team takes great care in sourcing high-quality rice and nori for their cone-shaped temaki, and while the hand rolls take center stage, their small plates, like Sichuan cucumbers with chili crunch, are worth trying.
Natsu
Cuisine: Japanese
There are just two seatings a night at this intimate omakase, where a ten-seat counter dominates a spartan-styled room. Meals begin with four dishes from the kitchen, including chawanmushi and truffle kampachi, served with crispy potato straws and a yuzu truffle vinaigrette for an unexpected flavor combination that is especially memorable. The sushi is impressive and doesn't gild the lily.
Camille
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Chef Tung Phan has taken the pop-up and given it permanence at this space just off Lake Baldwin. Rooted in French techniques, Vietnamese flavors are given a refined twist here. Salmon over king trumpet noodles in a tamarind and pineapple sauce is creative, but the best may be saved for last. The sweet potato brioche topped with a "gold" chocolate ice cream and Vietnamese coffee sauce is an elegant finale.
Cuisine: Chinese
The large Szechuan menu features many of the classics served in a traditional family-style manner, and the solid cooking shows its skill with layered flavors and bold takes. First, tuck into the cucumber salad, with its punch of soy and garlic, before settling into the Chongqing chicken with its chili and peanut garnish.
Tampa
Supernatural Food & Wine
Cuisine: American
Located in downtown Tampa, this casual concept is all about sandwiches—at breakfast and lunch—as well as a few sides and salads. It's a bright, mood-elevating kind of place where diners come in the morning for the olive and feta sandwich, served on a toasted focaccia bun with a black olive tapenade, fluffy egg, feta, thinly sliced red onion, and roasted peppers.
Predalina
Cuisine: Mediterranean
The large menu is a nod to the Mediterranean, beginning with a wide variety of mezzes (the blistered cauliflower surrounded by whipped tahini is a winner). Lunch offers a nice mix of sandwiches and salads, while dinner is squarely focused on entrées and house-made pastas. The tomato calamarata looks every bit the calamari it's named for, and dressed with a chunky, herb-laced tomato sauce and delicious kefalograviera, or Greek sheep's milk cheese, it's a satisfying dish.
Streetlight Taco
Cuisine: Mexican
This South Tampa taqueria certainly ups the style quotient on the typical taqueria. Heirloom corn is nixtamalized in house for a menu featuring tacos, tostadas, salsas, sides and more. Don't skip the Sunday snack tostada, an equal parts sweet-and-savory delight with two blue corn tostadas layered with cream cheese with lump crab, diced sweet mango and a mango habanero sauce.
The Pearl
Cuisine: American
The large American menu with shareable options aplenty sports a seafood focus, but don't sleep on dessert, as the in-house pastry chef oversees the pie-only menu. Come with friends for a fun time and to snack on treats such as fried pickles with a creamy dipping sauce or raw, baked or fried oysters. Go for broke with a seafood tower or enjoy a humbler entree, like the fish and chips.
Ebbe
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef Ebbe Vollmer's eponymous downtown dweller isn't your typical Tampa restaurant. Sleek and contemporary with a space dominated by a U-shaped marble bar, it's hyper-focused with just one tasting menu. Scandinavian elements make their way onto the dishes here, hinting at the chef's Swedish background, and the cooking is both clever and confident without superfluous fuss.
Kōsen
Cuisine: Japanese
Though a two-concept spot (Kō is a separate space for kaiseki), all eyes should be on the omakase, which Chef Wei Chen runs with skill and precision. Delicate sea bream wrapped around sprouts with shaved black truffle delivers dialed-in flavors, while tempura-fried kamasu, served with myoga and chilled, roasted sweet eggplant, is smart and spot on.
Hero image: Motion Minds/Predalina
