Michelin’s Latin America first

For the first time, Michelin has awarded three stars in Latin America, and both winners are in São Paulo: Evvai and Tuju. (michelin.com) Michelin announced the 2026 Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo guide on April 13 at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. The guide said the two restaurants are the first in Brazil and the first anywhere in Latin America to reach its top tier. (guide.michelin.com) The 2026 selection covers 149 restaurants in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, with 12 new entries this year. Michelin also said D.O.M., Lasai and Oro kept two stars, while Madame Olympe in Rio won its first star. (guide.michelin.com) Michelin stars are its ranking for restaurants, with one star for high-quality cooking, two for excellent cooking worth a detour, and three for exceptional cuisine worth a special journey. Until this week, Latin America had Michelin-starred restaurants, but none at the three-star level. (elespanol.com) That changed in Brazil, where Michelin’s inspectors pointed to a dining scene built on local ingredients, stronger service teams and a mix of Brazilian, Italian and Japanese influences. Michelin said those trends shaped the 2026 list in both cities. (michelin.com) Evvai is led by chef Luiz Filipe Souza, and Michelin describes its Oriundi tasting menu as a dialogue between Brazilian and Italian cooking. The guide says the restaurant had held two stars in the 2025 edition before moving up this year. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2) Tuju is led by chef Ivan Ralston, and Michelin describes the meal as a multi-floor tasting experience built around Brazilian ingredients and a cellar with more than 5,000 labels. Michelin said the restaurant’s format turns dinner into a three-act progression through the building. (guide.michelin.com) In Rio de Janeiro, eight restaurants appear in the 2026 starred guide, according to Diário do Rio. The publication reported tasting menus from R$440 to R$1,380 before drinks, with one-star and two-star restaurants spread across Leblon, Ipanema, Botafogo and Jardim Botânico. (diariodorio.com) The lowest reported entry point was Madame Olympe at R$440 for a four-course menu, while the highest was among Rio’s two-star group. Diário do Rio said wine or sake pairings can add hundreds of reais more to the bill. (diariodorio.com) The result gives Brazil Michelin’s first three-star restaurants in the region, but it also narrows the map: the guide still covers only Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. For now, Latin America’s Michelin summit sits in two dining rooms in São Paulo. (michelin.com)