Brazil earns three stars
The 2026 Michelin Guide awarded three stars to Evvai and Tuju in São Paulo, elevating them to the guide's top tier for Brazil this cycle. (g1.globo.com) The new selection also lists 38 restaurants in São Paulo and eight in Rio, and the guide expanded Brazil's Bib Gourmand roster to 46 venues. (exame.com)
Brazil now has its first three-star Michelin restaurants: Evvai and Tuju in São Paulo entered the guide’s top tier on April 13. (guide.michelin.com) The awards were announced at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro during the launch of the Michelin Guide Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo 2026. Michelin said the two promotions were the first three-star awards in Brazil and in Latin America. (guide.michelin.com) Evvai is led by chef Luiz Filipe Souza, and Tuju is led by chef Ivan Ralston. Michelin’s inspectors described Evvai as blending São Paulo’s Italian heritage with Brazilian identity, while Tuju was cited for a tasting-menu experience built as a “360-degree” culinary journey. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2) Michelin uses three stars for what it calls exceptional cooking worth a special journey, two stars for cooking worth a detour, and one star for high-quality cooking worth a stop. Until this week, Brazil had restaurants in the one-star and two-star tiers, but none at the top level. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2) The 2026 selection kept the guide at 149 restaurants across Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, with 12 new additions this year. Michelin said São Paulo had 38 selected restaurants and Rio had eight in the new intake. (guide.michelin.com) (exame.com) Rio also picked up one new one-star restaurant, Madame Olympe in Leblon, a project from Claude Troisgros and Jéssica Trindade. Michelin said that brought the guide’s total of one-star restaurants in Brazil to 19. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2) The lower-priced Bib Gourmand category also expanded to 46 restaurants, up from 40 in the 2025 guide. Michelin said six venues joined that list in 2026, including Clandestina and Jacó in São Paulo and Babbo Osteria in Rio. (guide.michelin.com) (guide.michelin.com) Michelin returned to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 2023 after a pause, and the 2026 edition is the third annual guide since that relaunch. Three years later, Brazil has moved from re-entry into the guide to the highest rank Michelin gives. (guide.michelin.com) (guide.michelin.com)
