Three London venues added to Michelin

Michelin added three London restaurants to its Guide in May 2026, giving Soho, Fitzrovia and Covent Garden new entries on the company’s rolling London selection. The additions were KHAO BIRD in Soho, Cometa in Fitzrovia and Rucola in Covent Garden, according to Michelin’s May 20 update on new London restaurants. Time Out, which first rounded up the three additions on June 1, said the monthly updates are based on visits by Michelin’s anonymous inspectors. A place in the Guide is separate from a Michelin star, but it puts a restaurant into the company’s broader selection and into the pool of venues diners and industry watchers track closely. ### Which London restaurants were added, and where are they? KHAO BIRD joined the London selection as Michelin’s Thai entry for May, with the guide describing it as a Soho restaurant serving Northern Thai barbecue dishes. Michelin said the restaurant occupies a former adult cinema site in Soho and highlighted its “well-priced” cooking and “lip-smacking flavours.” Time Out said dishes include raw beef larb, mutton fries and onglet steak with white curry, and listed a whole sea bass at £25.90 as the highest-priced item on the menu at the time of publication. (guide.michelin.com) Cometa was the Fitzrovia addition. Michelin said the restaurant operates in the former wine bar space at Carousel on Charlotte Street and described it as a permanent Mexican restaurant with a seafood tilt. Michelin highlighted crab chilpachole rice with smoked eel cream, while Time Out listed oysters with fermented petróleo, prawn ceviche and sea bass with mole verde among the dishes on offer. (guide.michelin.com) Rucola was the Covent Garden entrant. Michelin said the restaurant sits on the fifth floor of The Conduit club and serves Italian food from a rooftop setting open to non-members. Time Out described the menu as focused on northern Italian fare, including pizzas, fresh pasta, grilled fish and meat. ### Does a Guide addition mean the same thing as a Michelin star? (guide.michelin.com) Michelin’s June 1 Time Out coverage drew a distinction between entry into the Guide and a Michelin star. Time Out said restaurants added to the guide are updated monthly and assessed on ingredient quality, mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, consistency, and whether the chef’s personality comes through in the dishes. Michelin’s own London page lists starred restaurants, Bib Gourmands and other selected venues separately, underscoring that a Guide addition is an inclusion in the selection, not a star award by itself. (guide.michelin.com) ### What changed with Michelin’s sustainability recognition? Michelin said on May 18 that it would discontinue the Green Star and replace it with a new editorial platform called Mindful Voices. In its announcement, Michelin said Mindful Voices would spotlight chefs, hoteliers and wine producers whose work reflects new approaches across gastronomy, hospitality and wine, and that the rollout would begin on June 1, 2026, at the Nordic Countries ceremony in Copenhagen. (timeout.com) Michelin also said the Green Star, which had been limited to culinary recognition, would be discontinued as the new platform expanded beyond restaurants alone. Industry coverage said some restaurants objected to the move. Trade publication The Caterer reported that Michelin said the Green Star would be “gradually phased out,” with 37 green-starred restaurants in the UK and Ireland due to lose the accolade at the end of 2026. ### What happened in the United States at the same time? Emelina in West Palm Beach holds one Michelin star in the 2026 Guide USA selection, according to Michelin’s restaurant page. (guide.michelin.com) Michelin describes the restaurant as serving Cuban food from chefs Osmel González and Camila Salazar. Ogawa in Miami is listed by Michelin as a one-star restaurant in Florida, according to the guide’s restaurant page. (thecaterer.com) The user-provided briefing said chef Álvaro Pérez Miranda now has two Michelin-starred restaurants in the United States, with Ogawa retaining its star and Emelina earning its first. Michelin’s public restaurant pages confirm the current one-star status of both venues, though the retention sequence and chef attribution come from the cited industry briefing rather than Michelin’s London or Mindful Voices announcements. (guide.michelin.com) ### Where do readers watch for the next Michelin changes? Michelin said its latest additions are released monthly and marked with a “New” symbol on its website and app. The next public milestone for the company’s broader platform shift is June 1, 2026, when Mindful Voices is scheduled to be unveiled at the Michelin Guide Nordic Countries ceremony in Copenhagen. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2)