New York gastronomy is dining in one direction – Food

If you want to get a Michelin star in New York, the first thing to do is place the word "sushi" on behalf of your restaurant. Or at least, make sure your menu pays homage to Japanese cuisine.

When the Michelin Guide announced Tuesday the 2019 winners of New York City, 17 restaurants received new stars, six of which were Japanese. French cuisine worked well: three of the new entries ticked the box, including two of Joel Robuchon, the legendary chef who died earlier this year. Two newcomers were Mexicans, including the exciting new restaurant Claro of Oaxaca.

On the upper level, the city's gastronomic scene has not changed: Manhattan has five three-star stars: Bernardin, Masa, Eleven Madison Park, Brooklyn Fare and Per Se's Chef's Table. If anyone was determined to visit them all in one day, it would not require much walking: the restaurants are clustered in Midtown, with the exception of EMP in the Flatiron District ( and for some, the 24th street is Midtown).

This year's New York guide features 76 starred restaurants, up from 72 last year (and slightly less than the 2017 guide). However, a place has already closed: the basement of Tetsu, which received two stars, went from an expensive meat tasting restaurant to a place of sushi à la carte. The news was too late for the printed guide.

Gwendal Poullennec, the new international director of the Michelin Guide, says there is no favoritism towards sushi. "There is a rich selection of Japanese restaurants in New York," he says. "That's what customers are looking for and the performance is good. But our criteria remain the same regardless of the cuisine.

Poullennec used the same reasoning to defend Babbo's presence on the list (the restaurant is owned jointly by accused sexual harasser Mario Batali) and the shortage of female chefs. "We have the same methodology that we use around the world. We have no criteria or consideration beyond the quality of the food. Of the 76 starred restaurants, only two have women at the head of the kitchen: Melissa Rodriguez of Del Posto and Emma Bengtsson at Aquavit.

If the three-star scene in New York may have been flat, there is good news and bad news in the two-star category. Four restaurants have been added to the list, including three new spots: Icimura in Uchū, L'Atelier Joel Robuchon and Tetsu Basement.

The one-star list has also become more dynamic with additions such as Atomix, featuring a superb Korean omakase menu. Brooklyn has retained nine seats, with two of this year's most interesting additions, Claro and Oxomoco, a Williamsburg dining room specializing in Mexican wood-fired cooking. And The Cuckoo finally made the list. "This has been on our radar since it opened, and we have watched the steady rise in the quality of dishes that sing with finesse," says Poullennec.

If the kitchen does not please, it's American.

The stellar Gramercy Tavern can not get out of the one-star category; the grill is completely absent. Two pillars, Minetta Tavern and Aureole, have been removed from the list. Cosme, Beatrice Inn and Momofuku Ssam Bar, stuck in the Bib Gourmands, are also the subject of a serious omission. We do not see Lilia either; Italian cuisine is barely on the list, even though the world's number one restaurant, Osteria Francescana, is in Modena.

Poullennec defends the lack of Italian points on the list. "We have 563 restaurants in the 2019 guide: 87 Italians, 70 Japanese," he says. "The Italian is very well represented." But not with the stars.

See the full list below. An asterisk indicates a new entry; neighborhoods are designated by Michelin.

Three stars

Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare (Midtown West)

Eleven Madison Park (Gramercy)

The Bernardin (Midtown West)

Masa (Midtown West)

Per Se (Midtown West)

Read also: The World's Number 3 Restaurant Opens in Palm Beach

Two stars

Aquavit (Midtown East)

Artera (Tribeca)

Aska (Williamsburg)

Blanca (Greene Fort)

Daniel (Upper East Side)

* Gabriel Kreuther (Midtown West)

* Ichimura to Uchū (Lower East Side)

Jean-Georges (Upper West Side)

Jungsik (Tribeca)

Ko (East Village)

* The workshop of Joel Robuchon (Chelsea)

Marea (Midtown West)

The modern (Midtown West)

Sushi Ginza Onodera (Midtown West)

* Tetsu Basement (Tribeca, closed)

A star

Agern (Midtown East)

Ai Fiori (Midtown West)

Aldea (Gramercy)

* Atomix (Gramercy)

Babbo (Greenwich Village)

Bar Uchū (Lower East Side)

Bastard (TriBeCa)

Blue Hill (Greenwich Village)

* Bouley at home (Gramercy)

Café Boulud (Upper East Side)

Coffee China (Midtown East)

Carbon (Greenwich Village)

Casa Enrique (Queens)

Casa Mono (Gramercy)

Russian Caviar (Midtown East)

* Claro (Sunset Park)

The bell tower (Gramercy)

Contra (Lower East Side)

Rating (Gramercy)

Del Posto (Chelsea)

Faro (Fort Greene)

The finch (Fort Greene)

Gotham Bar and Grill (Greenwich Village)

Gramercy Tavern (Greenwich Village)

Günter Seeger (Greenwich Village)

Hirohisa (SoHo)

* Jeju Noodle Bar (Village of Greenwich)

Jewel Bako (East Village)

Junoon (Gramercy)

Kajitsu (Midtown East)

Kanoyama (East Village)

* Kosaka (Greenwich Village)

Kyo Ya (East Village)

The Appart (financial district)

* The Cuckoo (SoHo)

* The Grill of Joel Robuchon (Chelsea)

Meadowsweet (Williamsburg)

The Musket Room (SoHo)

Nix (Greenwich Village)

* Noda (Gramercy)

NoMad (Gramercy)

Okuda (Chelsea)

* Oxomoco (Williamsburg)

Peter Luger (Williamsburg)

The River Café (downtown Brooklyn)

Satsuki (Midtown West)

Sushi Amane (Midtown East)

Sushi Inoue (Harlem)

* Sushi Nakazawa (Greenwich Village)

* Sushi Noz (Upper East Side)

Sushi Yasuda (Midtown East)

Tempura Matsui (Midtown East)

* Tuome (East Village)

Uncle Boons (SoHo)

Wallse (Greenwich Village)

ZZ Clam Bar (Greenwich Village)