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A Recap of Philly’s Michelin Guide Event For Dummies
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
I’m not a foodie, but I do love an award show and last night the Michelin Guide came to Philadelphia for the first time ever to award stars to the Northeast cities of Boston, New York, Philly and also Chicago. This won’t be a stuffy recap like you’ll find on the legacy media sites because this recap is led by the dumbest guide you’ve ever met. My qualifications? Everyone on the Internet currently murdering me over this tweet:
Sorry that I didn’t know the Michelin Guide and the tire company were the same company. What do mechanics know about food? But did you know Dove soap and Dove chocolate aren’t related? What an idiot! Name the Philadelphia Eagles top-10 career passing yard leaders next, genius. Bet you can’t. Apparently the backstory is the brothers who started the tire company were failing so they made up this guide so that people all around Europe would drive to these amazing restaurants and hopefully use their tires while doing it. Amazing marketing. Anyway Philadelphia got three Michelin Stars. One for Friday Saturday Sunday, Provenance, and Her Place Supper Club:
Good for them. Never been to any of ’em and I have no shot to ever get in there now. The reservations are already booked three months out. This will be me outside every time I can’t get a reservation to Friday Saturday Sunday:
That’s okay we’ve got an award for the normies that like to eat: Michelin’s Bib Gourmand award. These are the places most of us have probably been to four, five, or even 10 times. The Bib Gourmand is awarded to restaurants that offer great food at a good value and of course multiple cheesesteak joints were on the list. This award should be renamed the GrubHub Award because I’ve ordered like half this list while sitting on my couch on a lazy Sunday:
I don’t know who Dalessandro’s had to pay off, but they do not deserve this award. That cheesesteak has been trash since the pandemic. I’ll even be that guy and say Chubby’s across the street is better. Angelo’s and Del Rossi’s on the other hand slap. What a world. Now the entire Philly area can say they’ve eaten a Michelin approved cheesesteak spot. Next up Skinny Joey’s if the Michelin Guide knows what is good for them.
Some heavy hitters in the city didn’t get a star, but they were on the Michelin recommended list. Restaurants like Zahav, Laser Wolf, Kalaya, Suraya, High Street, Vetri Cucina, and Vernick. Fishtown stand up! It’s the culinary capital of Philadelphia. Argue with a wall. Solid list though. We’ve got spots that originally put Philadelphia on the food map and spots that have popped up in the last couple of years that are leaving their mark. If you would’ve told me I had to put my pinky up as collateral that one of these recommended spots would get a star I would have one less pinky. Turns out I don’t know shit, but you already knew that. And honestly, that made me respect the Guide even more. This isn’t a lifetime achievement award, this is the best of the best right now. It’s a what have you done for me lately kind of league. They don’t care that Jason and Travis Kelce love Zahav or that Taylor Swift went to a Starr restaurant. This is the fucking Michelin Guide. Better luck next year. For the next 365 days Michael Solomonov’s probably gonna have a picture of him walking out of the Kimmel Center dejected as his phone background like Jalen Hurts walking off the field after Super Bowl 57.
A Michelin Green Star also went to Pietramala:
What an odd event though. It was interesting watching chefs interact. Such a weird group. Everyone who won just got life changing news and they couldn’t be any less excited. This is like the Oscars for food. You made it! This guy just got his second star and he looks miserable:
I understand chefs are a weird bunch. I’ve done my research (worked in bars and slogged through four seasons of The Bear). But come on people. Can we get a fist pump? A little bit of emotion? You’re about to be booked for the rest of eternity. Investors are going to come out of the woodwork throwing all kinds of money at you. You can’t enjoy it just a little bit? Somebody give me Roberto Benigni jumping on chairs:
This is a celebration:
Instead it’s like they got first ribbon at the community pie baking competition. I understand you’re in a room with your peers and tensions are at an all-time high, but you just spent an entire summer making sure everything from the food down to the smallest speck of lint on the table was perfect just to impress some shadowy figure you had no idea was about to change your life. Where’s the pomp? Where’s the pageantry? If Philly is going to keep doing this Michelin stuff can we get some excitement in there? Enough of the boring food bloggers and PR people they invite to these places. It’s already stuffy enough. Lets get some Eagles fans in there to spice things up. Better yet the Michelin Guide should go down to the lots next year and experience those culinary masterpieces. Imagine Jetro winning a Michelin Star.
The final tally of restaurants earning new stars was New York with six restaurants Chicago with two, Boston with one, and D.C. with zero. Philly pantsing Boston again:
— Paul Poluszny (@paulpozluvr) November 19, 2025
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com