What would become of us if Michelin had never existed?
Six restaurants earned new one-star Michelin ratings, while the guide introduced its first dedicated sommelier award, recognizing wine professionals' essential role in fine dining. Legendary chef Juan Mari Arzak received the mentor award for developing young culinary talent, with Martina Puigvert from Les Cols honored as the Young Chef of the year.
- Barcelona hosted the 2024 Michelin Guide ceremony on November 28, the first year Spain held its own separate gala
- Six restaurants earned their first Michelin star: Marcos, NM, Terra, Txispa, Canfranc Express, and Casa Bernardi
- Michelin created its first dedicated sommelier award, given to Josep 'Pitu' Roca of El Celler de Can Roca
- Juan Mari Arzak received the mentor award; Martina Puigvert of Les Cols won Young Chef of the year
Barcelona hosts the 2024 Michelin Guide awards ceremony, celebrating Spain's culinary excellence with new star recipients and inaugural sommelier recognition. The event highlights the guide's pivotal role in shaping global gastronomy.
Barcelona filled with the country's finest chefs on the evening of November 28th as the city hosted the 2024 Michelin Guide ceremony—the first time Spain's culinary awards were presented in their own gala, separate from Portugal's. The Auditori Fòrum at Barcelona's International Convention Center became the stage for what amounts to the most consequential night in Spanish gastronomy, a moment when restaurants learn whether they've earned the validation that can reshape their futures.
The Michelin Guide occupies an almost mythical place in the culinary world. Few accolades carry the weight it does, and the guide's origins reveal something unexpected about how it came to wield such power. In the early 1900s, when the Michelin tire company was young and automobiles were still rare, the company faced a problem: few people were driving. So they created a guide recommending places worth traveling to—restaurants naturally featured prominently. One thing led to another, and a tire manufacturer's marketing tool became the global standard by which fine dining measures itself. Maripaz Rovira, representing Michelin Spain, explained this history to presenter Andreu Buenafuente on stage, a moment that underscored how arbitrary and yet how absolute the guide's authority has become.
The red carpet that evening carried the weight of that history. The Torres brothers, Javier and Sergio, arrived having already secured three stars in the previous year's edition. So did Toño Pérez of Atrio in Cáceres, whose restaurant had also reached the three-star pinnacle. Martín Berasategui, the Spanish chef with the most Michelin stars to his name, reflected on the guide's indispensability: "What would become of us if Michelin had never existed?" He had visited Disfrutar—Spain's and Europe's best restaurant according to the guide—earlier that day and called the chefs there "triple threat." Jesús Sánchez from Cenador de Amós mused aloud that it would be fitting to hold the ceremony in his native Cantabria someday. These were not casual remarks; they were the measured words of people for whom this night carried genuine consequence.
Six restaurants earned their first Michelin star: Marcos in Gijón, NM in Oviedo, Terra in Fisterra, Txispa in Axpe, Canfranc Express, and Casa Bernardi. But the 2024 ceremony introduced something new. For the first time, Michelin created a dedicated award for sommeliers, recognizing that the people who guide diners through wine lists are not peripheral figures but essential architects of the dining experience. Josep 'Pitu' Roca, the sommelier at El Celler de Can Roca, received the inaugural honor. Quim Vila, presenting the award, called the sommelier "the key figure between the vineyard and the person tasting the wine"—a description that elevated the role from service to artistry.
Joan Carles Ibáñez of Lasarte in Barcelona received the award for dining room service, the second year Michelin has recognized this profession. "I want to thank the Michelin Guide and our diners who give us the support we need to achieve excellence," he said. The guide also honored Martina Puigvert of Les Cols as Young Chef of the year. Visibly moved, she spoke of her commitment to protecting the profession and everyone connected to it—farmers, gardeners, cooks. "This is our profession," she said.
The evening's most resonant moment came when Juan Mari Arzak received the mentor award. The legendary Basque chef, who could not attend, was honored through a video featuring testimonials from the chefs he had shaped: Dabiz Muñoz, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Martín Berasategui, Toño Pérez, and others. His daughter Elena, the fourth generation of the Arzak family, accepted on his behalf, visibly emotional. "Juan Mari couldn't be here, but it's a great honor to receive this jacket in his name," she said. "What a beautiful video."
These awards signaled a shift in how Michelin sees the restaurant ecosystem. The guide is no longer simply ranking chefs; it is recognizing that excellence in fine dining depends on sommeliers, service staff, mentors, and young talent working in concert. The ceremony in Barcelona made clear that the future of gastronomy, at least as Michelin measures it, belongs not to individual virtuosos but to entire communities of people committed to the craft.
Notable Quotes
What would become of us if Michelin had never existed?— Martín Berasategui, Spanish chef with the most Michelin stars
The sommelier is the key figure between the vineyard and the person tasting the wine— Quim Vila, presenting the inaugural sommelier award
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a tire company's century-old marketing tool still matter so much to chefs?
Because Michelin got there first and never let go. They created the language we use to talk about excellence in food. When a chef gets three stars, it's not just validation—it's permission to charge what they need to charge, to attract the best staff, to survive.
But that seems fragile. What if another guide came along?
It could happen, but Michelin has spent a hundred years building something that looks like objectivity. The guide doesn't explain itself. It just announces. That mystery is part of its power.
The sommelier award is new. Why recognize that now?
Because restaurants finally admitted what they'd always known—that a great wine list can save a mediocre meal, and a bad one can ruin an excellent one. The sommelier isn't a servant. They're a curator.
What about the young chef award? Is that about succession?
Partly. But it's also about keeping the profession alive. If young people see their peers getting recognized, they stay. They believe there's a future in this.
Juan Mari Arzak didn't attend his own mentor award.
He's old now, and he's done his work. His daughter accepting it—that's the point. The Arzak family is four generations deep. That's what mentorship looks like.
So Barcelona hosting this ceremony—does that change anything?
It signals that Spain's gastronomy is confident enough to celebrate itself separately. Portugal has its own ceremony now too. The guide is fragmenting, becoming more local even as it stays global.