Restaurants in Tainan and Kaohsiung are to be in next year’s Michelin Guide alongside those in Taipei and Taichung, Michelin Taiwan said yesterday, adding that seven restaurants in Taipei and Taichung have been added to the list of one-star restaurants.
The guide began evaluating restaurants in Taipei in 2018. It added Taichung to its annual review in last year’s guide.
“The selections in the Michelin Guide show the vibrancy of local culinary scenes, with a lot of new additions and concepts,” Michelin Guides international director Gwendal Poullennec told an online news conference.
Photo: Screen grab from Michelin Taiwan livestream
“For the fifth year, it is absolutely relevant to expand the coverage of Michelin Guide by adding two food lovers’ cities,” Poullennec said. “Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung are really food lovers’ destinations, and they all add to this diversity of Taiwanese culinary scenes.”
Poullennec said that Michelin’s inspectors adapted their evaluation techniques amid the COVID-19 pandemic, given that establishments stopped serving dine-in customers.
The changes to inspectors’ protocols ensured that they adhered to Michelin’s core values and methodology, and fairly assessed each restaurants and delivered the best selection possible, he said.
The Michelin Guide gave star ratings to 34 restaurants in Taiwan, 29 in Taipei and five in Taichung.
In Taipei, La Palais of the Palais de Chine Hotel was awarded three Michelin stars for a fourth year, the only three-star restaurant in Taiwan.
La Palais manager Jennifer Ou (歐宛臻) won this year’s Michelin Service Award.
L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon received two stars — joining six other two-star restaurants in Taipei — after having been awarded one star for the previous three years.
Chef Florence Dalia, who has helmed the kitchen since 2019, is the first female head chef in the group’s Asian bases, the guide said.
Five restaurants in Taipei were added to the list of one-star restaurants.
The guide said that De Nuit has “layered textures and flavors in every dish, while respecting the French traditions and the seasonality of ingredients.”
Fujin Tree Taiwan Cuisine & Champagne (Songshan) pairs Taiwanese cuisine with French champagne in the hopes of creating a unique culinary experience, the guide said.
T+T, an abbreviation for “Tapas Tasting,” provides a creative take on Spanish tapas, it added.
Mipon of Grand Mayfull Hotel specializes in refined home-style Taiwanese cooking that boasts intricate details and modern twists, while Mudan serves dishes made with seasonal ingredients from Taiwan and Japan, it said.
Mipon and Mudan were promoted to a one-star rating with a Michelin Plate distinction, the guide said.
In Taichung, TL Studio maintained its distinction as the only restaurant in the city with two Michelin stars.
Oretachi No Nikuya, which received a one-star rating in the previous guide, was marked as a new one-star restaurant after relocating in March, it said.
It was recognized for its continued high standards in offering prized Hida beef cuts and rare breeds, along with a secret menu for regulars, the guide said.
Sur, which was a Michelin Plate restaurant in the previous guide, was promoted to a one-star restaurant for “elevating everyday Taiwanese ingredients to haute cuisine through the use of modern techniques and a secret menu for those-in-the-know,” it said.
Sur chef Ed Lin (林佾華) won the guide’s Young Chef Award.
One-star restaurant Mountain and Sea House’s “farm-to-table” approach in handling food and Yangming Spring’s vegetarian culinary practice made them Michelin Green Star winners, the guide said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS