Fifty-two (52) French restaurants, including twenty-three (23) that opened just last year were awarded one or more Michelin stars for the first time, which, according to the French gourmet bible, reflects the “cultural dynamism” of a new generation of innovative chefs.

“This year has a rich “harvest”, while at the same time it is true to our values”said the director of the MICHELIN Guides, Gwendal Poullennec during the presentation of its 115th edition. More than half of the young laureates are under 40, he said.

Among them 35-year-old Fabien Ferré, who received the top honor of three stars on his first attempt. He took over the kitchen of “La Table du Castellet” in the southern department of the Var last year and became the youngest three-star chef in France.

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More than 20 restaurants won their first star this year compared to last year, confirming that the award-winning chefs of 2024 are “an exceptional group that testifies to the quality and quantity of France’s culinary dynamism on the world stage,” Poullennec told Agence France-Presse, adding among other things. “French gastronomy is no longer stuck in the past”.

Forty “Oscars” of gastronomy as they are also known they acquired kitchens in villages and townships for the first time, many of which focus on traditional local cuisine. And specifically, in eastern France 11 restaurants won their first star, 15 in the north, six in the west, 11 in the south and nine in the southeast, the Guardian reports.

Paris acquired 12 including ‘Nhome’, which has only one table for 20 people, as well as ‘Espadon’ at the Ritz.