Even as Alinea Loses a Star, Chicago Gains Two More in the Prestigious 2025 Michelin Guide for Restaurants

Daniel Hautzinger

November 18, 2025

A new Apple TV+ show follows restaurants vying for Michelin stars, including three in Chicago. Credit: Apple TV+

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The Michelin Guide announced its stars for Chicago at a ceremony in Philadelphia tonight. The most unexpected change was known in advance: Alinea, the legendary and influential restaurant opened by Grant Achatz 20 years ago, was demoted from three stars to two. But Chicago more than made up for the lost star with one new one-star restaurant, Feld, and a new two-star restaurant, Filipino phenom Kasama, bringing the number of Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago to 20.

Tim Flores of Kasama was represented in absentia by a cutout of his head, while his wife Genie Kwon showed some tears while accepting the accolade. Kasama was the first Filipino restaurant in the world to receive a Michelin star when it was first awarded one in 2022; it gets a second in the first year that Michelin has released a guide for the Philippines.

No restaurant dropped off the list; Atelier retained its one star despite being closed for several months while moving to a new location that just opened. Indian-Mexican restaurant Mirra, regional Indian Nadu, and newly reopened Taqueria Chingón received Bib Gourmand recommendations for food at an affordable price.

Amy Cordell was given a special recognition, the service award, for her management of hospitality and the front of house at two-starred Ever. Feld also received a green star, a mark of sustainable practices, for its spotlight on produce and close relationships with local farmers. Daisies is the only other restaurant in Chicago to have a green star.

The announcement of the 2025 stars comes as Michelin expands its coveted guide to more and more cities and regions, often subsidized in part by tourism boards. Chicago was the fifth American city to have a Michelin guide when it debuted here in 2011. Michelin has added a flurry of new guides since 2022, including this year in Boston and Philadelphia, which were part of the ceremony tonight revealing stars for Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.

While Michelin’s inspectors are anonymous and the exact process for determining stars is unknown outside the organization, a new Apple TV+ show called Knife Edge tries to tease out some of the things that help – or hurt – restaurants. It follows chefs in various cities as they vie for Michelin stars in 2024, including Cariño, Esmé, and Feld in Chicago. Each restaurant also gets its own storyline: Cariño’s Norm Fenton is waiting for his wife and children to be approved to move to Chicago from Mexico; Esmé experiences front-of-house staffing issues; Feld rushes to open amidst high expectations raised by social media. Cariño was the only Chicago restaurant to gain a star last year, and retained it this year. While Feld failed to achieve a Michelin star in its tumultuous first year, after a reset documented in Knife Edge it has been awarded one in 2025.

Knife Edge also spoke to Michelin inspectors, revealing a few surprises, such as that inspectors are paid and that they need to prove that they’ve had 1,000 restaurant meals, according to a New York Times interview with the host. But much of what is suspected about what Michelin inspectors are looking for, or who they are, remains speculation.

“If we feel the cooking at a restaurant is no longer at the same level that it was, then we would not re-award the Star the following year,” Michelin says about taking away stars. This year, news that Alinea, Masa in New York City, and The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia had each lost one of their three stars broke before the official announcement. Alinea had held three stars since the guide first came to Chicago. Alinea’s loss of a star comes as it celebrates its 20th anniversary with a tour but has also had its continued excellence questioned in reviews from the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.

There are only 14 three-starred restaurants in North America, including Smyth in Chicago. Two stars is still an impressive distinction, with less than 50 restaurants in North America, including four in Chicago – Alinea, Kasama, Ever, and Oriole.

Michelin stars are perhaps the most prestigious distinction in the culinary world, and they confer a huge financial benefit, as well as certain ideas of value: Smyth became more expensive to match international customers’ expectations after achieving a third star in 2023. (Most Michelin-starred spots are tasting menu restaurants, and vanishingly few are not fine dining; Michelin’s Bib Gourmand awards recognize cheaper eats.) Dave Beran, a protege of Achatz who has since opened various restaurants in Los Angeles, appears in Knife Edge and says that losing his one star at his restaurant Pasjoli cost it 30 to 40 percent of its business. He decides to reinvent the restaurant as a neighborhood joint instead of one aiming for Michelin status.

Winning a star can therefore be a huge relief, even if it comes with continued pressure to maintain or improve upon it. After Cariño is awarded a star, Fenton says in Knife Edge, “My gas tank was feeling close to empty, and now I feel like someone just filled it up.”

Here are Chicago's Michelin stars, with this year's changes noted.

Alinea - Two stars, down from three stars

Atelier - One star

Boka - One star

Cariño - One star

EL Ideas - One star

Elske - One star

Esmé - One star

Ever - Two stars

Feld - One star, up from none

Galit - One star

Indienne - One star