It's About the Whole: Michelin Returns for a Second Year
Behind our Michelin awards, there are a lot of very strong women.
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On Wednesday, hours before the Michelin awards were announced in Nashville, Chef Erik and Amanda Niel joined chefs Ben Wilt, Cody Baschnagel, Zach Burton and general manager Jenny Barwick on a dazzling Airbnb rooftop after a lunch at St. Vito. One chef bought a new suit for the night.
"It looked out over the city," Erik said. "Everybody got dressed up."
The view over the Southern restaurant industry looks bright, thanks to the second year of attention from the Michelin Guide. On Wednesday night at The Pinnacle, the global critics and reviewers released their 2026 list of restaurants.
Last year, six regional restaurants were named.
This year, we've got seven.
"We only added," said Erik. "That was not true in every state."
For the second year in a row, multiple regional restaurants were awarded with a Michelin recommendation.
- Easy Bistro & Bar in Chattanooga.
- Main Street Meats in Chattanooga.
- Little Coyote in Chattanooga, which received a second straight Bib Gourmand award.
- LUNCH in Sewanee.
- Judith: an American Tavern in Sewanee.
- The Rosecomb in Chattanooga.
- 2nd American in Chattanooga.
The 2026 guide features 265 restaurants across the South. Prior to the first edition, tourism companies and states paid $1.6 million for a three-year contract with Michelin, according to Axios. Tennessee's portion: $350,000 per year to be considered for inclusion in the Guide.
"From summer leading into fall, we've been busier than ever," said Chef Mallory Grimm of LUNCH. "That's really meaningful to us in terms of feeding our community."
Three miles away from the Niels' St. Vito lunch party, Mallory and partner Trapp Tubbs were sitting at Smith & Lentz, their beloved Nashville bar. He was sipping an Oktoberfest, she had her favorite Italian pilsner.
In 2022, Mallory and Trapp decided to leave Nashville, where she'd built a thriving catering business, to return to the anti-Nashville: small-town Sewanee.
They'd made their decision at that very bar. It was the same bar they'd visit after the farmers' markets. Their first date? Yep.
So hours away from receiving one of the world's biggest awards for the second straight year, they returned to the Nashville bar they love most.
"It is so nostalgic for us," she said.
Then, the big party at The Pinnacle.
"We always feel a little like fish out of water at that type of thing," she said. "Everyone has such impressive places and are doing so many cool things. We learned a lot about a lot of spots."
Chef Rebecca Barron was home sick on Wednesday night; the James Beard nominated chef is currently the culinary director at three restaurants: 2nd American, Alleia and Nashville's 5th & Taylor.
This year, 2nd American and 5th & Taylor made the Michelin list.
"I was kinda surprised and excited," she said. Her 5th & Taylor chef texted her the good news: we are officially Michelin-recommended chefs.
"I think it was cool that they came to Chattanooga," she said. "We always think of Chattanooga as this funny little hidden city even though we've been named in national magazines. But it's kinda of like: oh, Chattanooga can be a cool exciting place."
Inspectors visited restaurants anonymously multiple times — we've heard as many as 20 — and rated based on quality products, harmony of flavors, mastery of cooking techniques, voice and personality of the chef as reflected in the cuisine and consistency between each visit and the menu as a whole.
"The inspection teams explore destinations in person, as being out in the field is key," one unnamed Michelin inspector told us in an exclusive interview last year. "Plus, they also use various sources including local and national media, social media and word-of-mouth recommendations."
Something noteworthy, which feels a bit fabulously punk rock about our designation? Notice all the women involved:
Amanda Niel. Chloe Wright at The Rosecomb. Mallory and Rebecca. Judith's Chef Julia Sullivan, who's a James Beard nominee (and also left Nashville for Sewanee.)
She named Judith after the first woman — Judith Ward Lineback — admitted to Sewanee in 1969.
LUNCH is only open for, well, lunch, and it only offers counter service. How many Michelin Guide restaurants only offer lunchtime counter service?
Rebecca? She's James Beard-nominated and Michelin-recommended, but as she told us in our very first Food as a Verb interview, she's never taken one cooking class her entire life.
There's a level of strong feminine influence and presence within these regional awards that's worth spotlighting and celebrating.
"It's incredible that a city of our size has five restaurants recognized," said Amanda Niel. "We're doing really good things and people view us as a culinary destination.
"Let's keep going. Women behind the scenes have to keep pushing the ball forward."
According to reports, this year's awards celebration was stripped down compared to last year's in Greenville, SC. Only restaurant teams receiving their award for the first time were called to the stage. The ceremony didn't invite to the stage restaurants receiving recognition for the second year, not even apparently listing their names on a screen, according to one person present that night.
Plus, there is the absence of agriculture; behind a great number of these Michelin restaurants are Southern farmers. Where is their presence in this?
"I don't think it's about us at all," said Mallory. "It's about the whole. Everyone that works for us, all our farmers and the work they put in, the special relationships we have with different producers and our community."
Since the beginning, LUNCH has elevated farmers to the highest levels. Mallory bases LUNCH's weekly menu off regional produce and meat. Currently, she's sourcing from 25 to 30 regional growers.
And that's the story her team continues to tell.
"Everything on their plate is from right around here. How many farms we source from. How special the Cumberland Plateau is.
"That's the guiding focus."
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
On Wednesday, hours before the Michelin awards were announced in Nashville, Chef Erik and Amanda Niel joined chefs Ben Wilt, Cody Baschnagel, Zach Burton and general manager Jenny Barwick on a dazzling Airbnb rooftop after a lunch at St. Vito. One chef bought a new suit for the night.
"It looked out over the city," Erik said. "Everybody got dressed up."
The view over the Southern restaurant industry looks bright, thanks to the second year of attention from the Michelin Guide. On Wednesday night at The Pinnacle, the global critics and reviewers released their 2026 list of restaurants.
Last year, six regional restaurants were named.
This year, we've got seven.
"We only added," said Erik. "That was not true in every state."
For the second year in a row, multiple regional restaurants were awarded with a Michelin recommendation.
- Easy Bistro & Bar in Chattanooga.
- Main Street Meats in Chattanooga.
- Little Coyote in Chattanooga, which received a second straight Bib Gourmand award.
- LUNCH in Sewanee.
- Judith: an American Tavern in Sewanee.
- The Rosecomb in Chattanooga.
- 2nd American in Chattanooga.
The 2026 guide features 265 restaurants across the South. Prior to the first edition, tourism companies and states paid $1.6 million for a three-year contract with Michelin, according to Axios. Tennessee's portion: $350,000 per year to be considered for inclusion in the Guide.
"From summer leading into fall, we've been busier than ever," said Chef Mallory Grimm of LUNCH. "That's really meaningful to us in terms of feeding our community."
Three miles away from the Niels' St. Vito lunch party, Mallory and partner Trapp Tubbs were sitting at Smith & Lentz, their beloved Nashville bar. He was sipping an Oktoberfest, she had her favorite Italian pilsner.
In 2022, Mallory and Trapp decided to leave Nashville, where she'd built a thriving catering business, to return to the anti-Nashville: small-town Sewanee.
They'd made their decision at that very bar. It was the same bar they'd visit after the farmers' markets. Their first date? Yep.
So hours away from receiving one of the world's biggest awards for the second straight year, they returned to the Nashville bar they love most.
"It is so nostalgic for us," she said.
Then, the big party at The Pinnacle.
"We always feel a little like fish out of water at that type of thing," she said. "Everyone has such impressive places and are doing so many cool things. We learned a lot about a lot of spots."
Chef Rebecca Barron was home sick on Wednesday night; the James Beard nominated chef is currently the culinary director at three restaurants: 2nd American, Alleia and Nashville's 5th & Taylor.
This year, 2nd American and 5th & Taylor made the Michelin list.
"I was kinda surprised and excited," she said. Her 5th & Taylor chef texted her the good news: we are officially Michelin-recommended chefs.
"I think it was cool that they came to Chattanooga," she said. "We always think of Chattanooga as this funny little hidden city even though we've been named in national magazines. But it's kinda of like: oh, Chattanooga can be a cool exciting place."
Inspectors visited restaurants anonymously multiple times — we've heard as many as 20 — and rated based on quality products, harmony of flavors, mastery of cooking techniques, voice and personality of the chef as reflected in the cuisine and consistency between each visit and the menu as a whole.
"The inspection teams explore destinations in person, as being out in the field is key," one unnamed Michelin inspector told us in an exclusive interview last year. "Plus, they also use various sources including local and national media, social media and word-of-mouth recommendations."
Something noteworthy, which feels a bit fabulously punk rock about our designation? Notice all the women involved:
Amanda Niel. Chloe Wright at The Rosecomb. Mallory and Rebecca. Judith's Chef Julia Sullivan, who's a James Beard nominee (and also left Nashville for Sewanee.)
She named Judith after the first woman — Judith Ward Lineback — admitted to Sewanee in 1969.
LUNCH is only open for, well, lunch, and it only offers counter service. How many Michelin Guide restaurants only offer lunchtime counter service?
Rebecca? She's James Beard-nominated and Michelin-recommended, but as she told us in our very first Food as a Verb interview, she's never taken one cooking class her entire life.
There's a level of strong feminine influence and presence within these regional awards that's worth spotlighting and celebrating.
"It's incredible that a city of our size has five restaurants recognized," said Amanda Niel. "We're doing really good things and people view us as a culinary destination.
"Let's keep going. Women behind the scenes have to keep pushing the ball forward."
According to reports, this year's awards celebration was stripped down compared to last year's in Greenville, SC. Only restaurant teams receiving their award for the first time were called to the stage. The ceremony didn't invite to the stage restaurants receiving recognition for the second year, not even apparently listing their names on a screen, according to one person present that night.
Plus, there is the absence of agriculture; behind a great number of these Michelin restaurants are Southern farmers. Where is their presence in this?
"I don't think it's about us at all," said Mallory. "It's about the whole. Everyone that works for us, all our farmers and the work they put in, the special relationships we have with different producers and our community."
Since the beginning, LUNCH has elevated farmers to the highest levels. Mallory bases LUNCH's weekly menu off regional produce and meat. Currently, she's sourcing from 25 to 30 regional growers.
And that's the story her team continues to tell.
"Everything on their plate is from right around here. How many farms we source from. How special the Cumberland Plateau is.
"That's the guiding focus."
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
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