Brazil’s Michelin milestone

Two São Paulo restaurants, Evvai and Tuju, became the first in Latin America to win three Michelin stars on April 13. (guide.michelin.com) The awards came at the Michelin Guide Rio de Janeiro & São Paulo 2026 ceremony at Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Michelin also gave Rio restaurant Madame Olympe its first star that night. (g1.globo.com) Michelin’s three-star rating is the guide’s top tier, above two stars and one star. Until this 2026 edition, no restaurant in Brazil or elsewhere in Latin America had reached that level in the guide. (guide.michelin.com) The jump came one year after Evvai and Tuju were still in Michelin’s two-star group in Brazil. In the 2025 guide, the country’s highest rating was two stars, shared by restaurants in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. (gq.globo.com) Evvai is led by chef Luiz Filipe Souza, and Tuju is led by chef Ivan Ralston. Brazilian coverage of the ceremony described both promotions as a sign of São Paulo’s weight in the country’s fine-dining scene. (band.com.br) The 2026 guide did not strip stars from any restaurant in Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, according to G1. That meant the headline changes were the two promotions to three stars and Madame Olympe’s entry into the one-star list. (g1.globo.com) Michelin first launched its Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo guide 11 years before this ceremony, according to Forbes Brasil’s account of the awards. This year’s results gave Brazil its first restaurants at the guide’s maximum rank rather than a single inaugural winner. (forbes.com.br) For Michelin, the result was a regional first; for Brazil, it was a double promotion announced on the same stage in Rio. The 2026 ceremony turned São Paulo’s Evvai and Tuju into the new reference points for Michelin-rated dining in Latin America. (guide.michelin.com)