Win Some, Lose Some: Michelin Guide Announces Chicago Restaurant Star Winners

By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 15, 2011 9:40PM

Chicago's foodies have spent the entire day anxiously awaiting the release of the Michelin stars list for 2012. It finally has arrived, and Chicago didn't make out so well.

In total, Chicago had 30 stars last year, including two 3-star and three 2-star restaurants. This year, we only got 25. While some new restaurants made the 1-star list, our collection of high-end restaurants (as defined by Michelin) just got smaller.

Unsurprisingly, L20 (which keeps losing chefs right before stars come out) dropped off the three star list. Potentially surprising is how far they dropped - down to only one star. The only 3-star Michelin restaurant in Chicago is now Alinea. The shuttered Avenues also dropped off the 2-star list, and nothing came up to join it. Not a single mention of Next, though that may be because of its strange ticketing structure.

New this year on the 1-star list: Moto, which makes us very happy to see, and Courtright's, the suburban spot that was a favorite to join the list. But Crofton on Wells, Sixteen and NoMi dropped off. Unsurprising, as Sixteen changed chefs and NoMi became NoMi Kitchen. However, not much was added to the list to replace them.

The release was unusually delayed, with tweets from both Michelin and those anxiously awaiting the information. From Michelin: "to all of the antsy Chicago foodies... the chefs who earned the stars deserve to get the news first. then the press release will go out." From The Feast's Carly Fisher: "Hey guys, the real reason Michelin hasn't announced yet is because Schwa isn't picking up the phone to get their chef announcement."

The complete list is below.

Three Stars
Alinea

Two Stars
Ria
Charlie Trotters

One Star
Blackbird
Boka
Bonsoiree
Courtright’s
Everest
Graham Elliot
Longman & Eagle
L20
Moto
NAHA
Schwa
Seasons
Sepia
Spiaggia
Takashi
Topolobompo
Tru
Vie