Is the Michelin guide as good as it sounds for New Zealand?

Many restaurants in New Zealand deserve a lauded Michelin Star, but chef Al Brown warns there's a "dark side" that comes with it.

"That pressure to retain that star, chefs have taken their lives over Michelin Stars ... and I don't get that, I don't want any of that," says Brown, a proud advocate of the casual dining experience.

"Food comes from a happy place, it should be kitchens that are full of aroha and hard work and great produce and all the rest of it, but if we're living and dying by a star system, I don't think that's healthy at all."

Tourism New Zealand is spending $6.3 million to bring the Michelin Guide – the world’s most famous restaurant ranking system – to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Inspectors have been dining here anonymously for more than a year with the first local edition of the guide due for release on 4 June 2026. It's not known how many inspectors were travelling to New Zealand, how many might be based locally, or how many restaurants were being assessed.

Brown, who owns and runs popular spots Depot and Federal Deli in downtown Auckland, questions what makes these diners the authority on where to eat.

"What's an anonymous diner? What's their background? This is the thing about reviewing in New Zealand, as well as we have these reviewers that have never worked in the industry and they're reviewing our businesses," Brown told RNZ.

"There's all this sort of secrecy. It would be great to know who these people are, what gives them the experience to be able to comment and do they dig a bit deeper?

"A lot of the thing that bothers me about restaurant awards and reviews is that they're only just looking at a plate of food and someone serving, essentially. They're looking at the wine list and bits and pieces, but they're not looking at a restaurant as a business.

"How many days are they open? How many brigades do they have? What are their challenges? What are their things on sustainability? How do they look after their suppliers and producers?

"There's so much more to a restaurant or that business than just the plate of food in front of you and a glass of wine and a knowledgeable waiter."

The Michelin Guide (and its well known star system) was created in 1900 by the French tyre company and now covers almost 50 destinations but has never had a presence in Oceania.

The guide’s international director, Gwendal Poullennec, told the New Zealand Herald early feedback from inspectors noted the country’s restaurants had a “distinctive flavour – something to offer to world culinary culture”.

“Local influences, based on local culture, indigenous cultures. But also the local produce, the local know-how," he said.

There are no guarantees any of the coveted Michelin Stars will be awarded in New Zealand. Currently, 157 restaurants worldwide hold three-star status, the highest honor a restaurant can receive, signifying exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey.

There are 514 restaurants with two stars for "excellent cooking that is worth a detour" and 3060 with one star awarded for a "very good restaurant" where dishes are prepared to a consistently high standard using top-quality ingredients.

Outside of the star rating it's possible to be included in the guide.

Chef Peter Gordon is looking forward to New Zealand being exposed to "world-class judging".

"The thing is that if you go to a two-star Michelin restaurant in Italy, it will be the same level of a two-star Michelin restaurant here in Aotearoa."

It's estimated the guide could lure 36,000 more international visitors to New Zealand, Louise Upston, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, said on Thursday morning.

Gordon reckons online guides offer a huge boost for hospitality, as well as all the bonuses that come with tourists in town - accommodation, shopping, eating and drinking.

"If you end up in the guide, and if you end up with a star, it's going to guarantee a lot of tourism visitors will come to you that maybe wouldn't have heard of you before."

Brown doesn't deny it could be a great thing for tourism, and acknowledges there are certainly chefs here who deserve the accolade, but he questions the set up.

"There's some sort of eliteness in there as well. It's only the really wealthy that can afford to actually dine in these Michelin-style restaurants," he said.

Despite starting his career at fine dining establishment Logan Brown in Wellington, the cookbook author and fishing fanatic waves his "informality flag the whole time".

"I always nod my cap to the fine diners and chefs that do incredible work and food and dishes ... but I'm in the other camp, which is just more about relaxed, informal, generous.

"I think Kiwis ... we feel more comfortable in those surroundings and that's what it should be.

"You don't want to drop your fork on the floor and start freaking out what's going to happen or if you can't pronounce the wine.

"... we're a relaxed bunch and we're kind of elbows on the table, love a good yarn, love a whole lot of oysters to land on the table and some other bits and some lamb ribs and some bits and pieces and get stuck in and that's who we are as a personality."

Auckland chef Josh Emett says the arrival of the Michelin Guide is "a huge thing" that puts New Zealand's hospitality industry on the same footing as the rest of the world.

"I think it's the right call, it's the only call and we're really excited for it," he says.

"We have a great industry down here, we have incredible restaurants and we want to be included and benchmarked against the rest of the world and that's what it will do."

Emett, who has three restaurants (Gilt, Onslow and The Oyster Inn), was working for English chef Gordon Ramsay when Restaurant Gordon Ramsay won three Michelin stars, making it London’s only three-star restaurant. Emett went on to work in two more of Ramsay's restaurants in the US, which were both subsequently awarded stars.

He believes the Michelin Guide has moved on from "white tablecloths and the finest china".

"It's about doing things incredibly well in terms of food and service. It's about experiences and it's about doing that well.

"It's not whether you've got carpet on the floor and whether you've got white tablecloths. I think the fine dining side of things has moved on long ago. There's a chicken shop in Asia that's got a Michelin star and they serve the best chicken in the world and it's got nothing to do with formal dining."