Michelin Guide's arrival in Philadelphia was a long time coming: "The world still needs to know about it"
A long time coming. That's what officials are saying about the prestigious Michelin Guide arriving in Philadelphia. The announcement was officially made in front of a crowd Tuesday morning at the Barnes Foundation.
Michelin's partnership with the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau was years in the making.
"Of course, you know it already," Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guide, said. "That you have a great food scene, but the world still needs to know about it."
The world certainly will, just in time for the packed year that is 2026 in Philadelphia as the city prepares to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary.
"Having Michelin go live with their special ratings in time for 2026, man, that is just the icing on your fancy cakes that y'all make out there," Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
Philadelphia is joining Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York City in the Michelin Guide Northeast Cities edition.
"The customers in Philly are not scared to tell you what they think about your food, and I appreciate that. It gives you really, really thick skin, so as some of us are kind of nervous about Michelin coming in," Nicholas Elmi, a Philadelphia-area restaurateur and chef, said. "There's also like the kind of attitude, like you should be here. You should already be here. We're from Philly, we know what we're doing."
Later this year, restaurant selections for the guide will be unveiled.
"What we will find in the first year or two is we'll get a couple of selections and then as a city gets used to it and the culinary talent grows, we're gonna have an explosion in year four, five and six," Mark McDonnell, executive chef at the Four Seasons Philadelphia, said.
Michelin notes inspectors are already out exploring the Philadelphia food scene. Area chefs, well, they are ready for it.
"Everybody's kinda like the Philadelphia Eagles, you know, underdogs," David Paterniti, Chef de Cuisine at Vernick Fish, said. "I feel like we've always been overlooked, we've been in between D.C. and New York this whole time, always kind of wanting the attention, and now we're finally getting it."
