Michelin names four Quebec stars

Michelin just made Québec’s food scene look a lot bigger. The 2026 guide, unveiled on May 6, added four new one-star restaurants and brought the province to 13 starred places overall. That is a sharp jump for a market that only got its first dedicated guide last year. Basically, Michelin is no longer treating Québec like a one-city curiosity — it is building a real regional map. (guide.michelin.com) ### Which restaurants got the new stars? The four newcomers are Auberge Saint-Mathieu in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc, Hoogan et Beaufort in Montréal, Le Clan in Québec City, and Sushi Nishinokaze in Montréal. All four entered at one star, not two or three. That matters beca(guide.michelin.com)s. (cbc.ca) ### What stayed at the top? Québec still has just one two-star restaurant — Tanière³ in Québec City. Michelin’s 2026 selection says the province now has 13 starred restaurants in total, which means the new awards expanded the list rather than reshuffling it dramatically. So the headline is growth, not upheaval. The existing upper tier held, and Michelin widened the bench underneath it. (guide.michelin.com) ### Why is four new stars a big deal? Because last year’s first Québec guide had nine starred restaurants. Adding four in the second edition is a big increase in one cycle. Michelin is signaling that the province has more depth than a launch-year snapshot could show. Turns out the inspectors are finding enough consistency outside the original core to keep expanding the list instead of freezing it in place. (cbc.ca) ### Is this mostly a Montréal story? Partly, but not entirely. Montréal picked up two of the four new stars — Hoogan et Beaufort and Sushi Nishinokaze — and CBC notes the city now has five starred restaurants. But the other two additions landed in very different places: Québec City and Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc. That spread is the real story. Michelin is rewarding both urban fine dining and more rural, destination-style cooking. (cbc.ca) ### What else changed besides stars? A lot. Michelin added three new Green Stars — for restaurants focused on what it calls mindful gastronomy — and seven new Bib Gourmands for strong food at gentler prices. The Bib additions pushed Québec to 23 such restaurants. Michelin also says the province now has 121 recognized restaurants in total, including 8(cbc.ca)rint hiding behind the star count. (guide.michelin.com) ### What kind of food is Michelin rewarding? The official guide leans hard on a few themes — local products, farm-linked cooking, shorter shareable menus, and techniques like fire cooking and fermentation. That sounds abstract, but it tells you Michelin is seeing a distinct Québec style emerge rather (guide.michelin.com)he identity Michelin is selling back to diners. (guide.michelin.com) ### So what’s the bigger takeaway? Michelin’s second Québec guide feels like a commitment. One year in, this could have stayed a small prestige list centered on a few obvious names. Instead, the guide got wider — more stars, more Bibs, more recommended spots, more geography. The bottom line is simple: Michelin is treating Québec as a durable North American dining region now, not a trial run. (guide.michelin.com)