New York City’s Best Michelin Star Restaurants
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No city is better at indulgence than New York City. Here, it's all about dressing better, drinking more and eating at some of the most delicious restaurants in the world.
With 73 restaurants boasting a Michelin star, the Big Apple has endless options for fine dining enthusiasts with wide pockets. If this is you, head to one of the 10 best Michelin star restaurants in New York City. Or better yet, dine at every single one at some point in your life.
10. Claro
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No. of stars: 1
Cuisine: Mexican
Oaxacan cuisine comes to Brooklyn with Claro, helmed by chef T.J Steele, who spent time living in the Mexican region to learn the secrets of its deep and earthy dishes.
The restaurant makes everything it serves by hand, even toasting tlayudas and tostadas with firewood right in front of customers.
An excellent mezcal offers the perfect accompaniment to any meal.
9. The River Café
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No. of stars: 1
Cuisine: Contemporary
Boasting one of the best restaurant views in New York, the River Café will have you dining duck breast with sweet potato and Montauk swordfish underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
The menu is varied but particularly shines with seafood, which fits its watery location quite well.
The restaurant offers instructions on how to get to it: "Across a bridge, over a river and into a dream."
8. Eleven Madison Park
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No. of stars: 3
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Eleven Madison Park's strictly vegetarian menu is good enough to entice even avid meat lovers like us.
Chef Daniel Humm serves bread rolls made with vegan butter that will make you want to cry. And the main courses are unapologetically plant-forward, rarely trying to imitate meat. Somehow, this is a plus in this high-end restaurant.
As a bonus, for every meal ordered, the establishment provides meals to locals in need.
7. Al Coro
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No. of stars: 2
Cuisine: Italian
Succeeding at Italian in a fine dining context is difficult, but Al Coro manages to do it without breaking a sweat. Order pasta even if it sounds cliché. It'll be the best you can get outside of Italy itself.
And don't be afraid to share the experience with others. After all, the owners claim this is a restaurant for celebrating, with large tables and live music every single night.
6. Aska
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No. of stars: 2
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Scandinavian food has a bad reputation that we have to admit is usually accurate. But Aska throws all negative expectations out the window with its Nordic menu that has earned it two Michelin stars.
Set in an old warehouse in Brooklyn, the restaurant serves seasonal dishes that focus on seafood and fermented ingredients.
5. Tuome
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No. of stars: 1
Cuisine: Asian fusion
This East Village restaurant brings together flavors from various Asian countries to delight diners. But chef Thomas Chen also throws in French culinary techniques to ensure a truly incredible experience you'll want to have again and again.
Try the pig, made with pork belly and sesame noodles. And if you're a bit concerned about prices, you'll be happy to know that Tuome is New York's most affordable Michelin star restaurant.
4. Daniel
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No. of stars: 2
Cuisine: French
Daniel is exactly what you would expect a Michelin star restaurant to be. Focusing on French food, it offers impeccably constructed dishes that are almost too pretty to eat. The dining room is heavily ornamented yet subtle, in a way only the French have managed to pull off.
And while the food is heavenly, the real pièce de résistance is its dessert menu, which includes jewels like the gifu sansho vacherin, made with blood orange sorbet, tonka bean ice cream, pomegranate coulis and chantilly cream.
3. Semma
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No. of stars: 1
Cuisine: Indian
Indian restaurants often cater to the international palette. But Semma simply refuses such conformity. Instead, it serves traditional South Indian cuisine precisely as it is would have been made for a wealthy Indian clientele.
Find dishes like Goanese oxtail in green cardamom, cinnamon and cumin. Or nathai pirattal — snails cooked in ginger, tamarind and kal dosa.
2. Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare
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No. of stars: 3
Cuisine: American contemporary
Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare is perhaps the most understated three-star Michelin restaurant in the U.S. Rather than choosing a sumptuous location in one of the city's many high rises, the establishment is settled at the back of the Brooklyn Fare grocery market in Hudson Yards.
You'll have to cross the loud and colorful stands at the market to get there, which adds to the experience. The multi-course tasting menu will take you on a culinary journey that will delight all of your senses.
1. Masa
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No. of stars: 3
Cuisine: Japanese
There are 17 Japanese restaurants in New York that boast the distinction of a Michelin star. But Masa is the only one that has achieved the coveted three stars. Its attention to detail sets it apart, reflecting a life philosophy beyond dining. As the website claims, "Masa is shibui," a Japanese concept of subtle beauty.
You'll see this in the intentionally plain decor that seeks to avoid distracting the eyes and the mind away from the food. The dishes, while intricate, are delicate and simple, so as to let the "innate character of the ingredients persist."
Dining here won't come cheap. But it truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.