Michelin awards new three‑star Kyoto

Kyoto has a new three-star Michelin restaurant for the first time in six years: Miyamaso was promoted in the Michelin Guide Kyoto Osaka 2026. (guide.michelin.com) Michelin announced the 2026 Kyoto-Osaka selection on April 23, 2026. The guide now lists 479 restaurants across the two cities. (guide.michelin.com) Miyamaso is a mountain ryokan restaurant in Kyoto’s Hanase area. Michelin said chef Hisato Nakahigashi’s cooking is built around seasonal ingredients, many of them foraged locally. (guide.michelin.com) (tokyoweekender.com) The promotion matters inside Michelin’s own hierarchy because three stars are its top rating, reserved for restaurants deemed “worth a special journey.” Miyamaso had held two stars since 2011 after first entering the guide with one star in 2010. (guide.michelin.com) (tokyoweekender.com) Michelin said Kyoto now has six three-star restaurants. It was the first new three-star addition in Kyoto and Osaka since the 2020 edition. (guide.michelin.com) The rest of the 2026 changes were broad, not just symbolic. Michelin added five new two-star restaurants and 19 new one-star restaurants across Kyoto and Osaka. (guide.michelin.com) The guide also expanded its lower-priced list. Twelve restaurants were newly added to Bib Gourmand, with three in Kyoto and nine in Osaka. (guide.michelin.com) Michelin used this edition to add a new local prize as well. The Kyoto Osaka area received its first Sommelier Award, alongside the Mentor Chef Award and Service Award. (guide.michelin.com) Japanese cuisine dominated the top end of the new promotions. Michelin’s release said the new three-star, all five new two-stars and 13 of the 19 new one-stars serve Japanese food. (michelin.com) For Kyoto, the headline was still Miyamaso’s climb from a long-held two-star status to Michelin’s highest tier. After six years without a new three-star in the city, the 2026 guide changed that. (guide.michelin.com)