One of the references of gastronomic tourism is the Michelin guide, making it a privilege and a pleasure to eat in the restaurants with more Michelin stars, since they are recognized as the best in the world.
Michelin stars constitute a recognition given to establishments that comply with the “Michelin” guide, created in 1900 by André Michelin and Edouard Michelin. Which began as an advertising guide that was given away when buying tires, quickly becoming a gastronomic benchmark, globally recognized and awarded to those restaurants that achieve high standards of quality and creativity.
But have you wondered which are the cities with the most Michelin stars in the world? To know the answer, we will take as a base only the number of stars; and later we will cite the cities with the most Michelin stars, according to population density, a criterion preferred by some analysts on this subject. So let’s start with the first list:
1.- Tokyo: the capital of Japan is a reference to gastronomy worldwide, and it wins first place because it has 304 Michelin stars, distributed as follows: 12 restaurants with three stars, 54 with two and 160 with one.
2.- Kyoto: This important Japanese city, follows Tokyo on the list, with 137 stars, distributed in 7 restaurants with three, 26 with two and 64 of them with one star, still a bit far from the gastronomic giant with its 304 lights.
3.- Paris, France: Very close to Kyoto, we have the French capital, which reaches 134 Michelin stars, although many people have always believed that it is in first place. Its 134 stars are distributed as follows: 7 restaurants have three stars, 25 have two and 63 have one.
4.- Osaka, Japan: The third Japanese city on the list is evidence that this country is the quintessential gastronomic destination in the world. Osaka stands out for its great restaurants; three of which have three stars, 22 have two and 68 one, for a total of 117 Michelin stars.
5.- New York, United States: The most cosmopolitan city in the world occupies the fifth place with 117 stars, although according to population density, it does not appear even in the first twenty positions, being surpassed by San Francisco, a city with the one that disputes the culinary supremacy of the United States.
6.- Hong Kong, China: With its 97 stars, one of the most important financial centres in the world, it is in sixth place, however, due to its high population density, it is far from appearing on the list of 20 most important.
7.- London, England: Seventh place is occupied by the beautiful English capital, where several restaurants are located that total 87 Michelin stars, distributed throughout the four sides of the city of Queen Elizabeth and her royal court.
8.- San Francisco, United States: This is the second city in the United States that appears on the list, after New York, with 46 stars, but it can be seen later, which is the only one according to population density, surpassing to New York and Chicago.
9.- Chicago, United States: This city occupies the ninth and last place on the list, with 35 stars that attest to the excellent gastronomy that it possesses, and that without a doubt, is one of its main tourist attractions for many travellers that they visit.
The second list that we will present is based on population density, considered by the gastronomic section of the ‘Huffington Post’, where Michelin stars are calculated for every 100,000 inhabitants, being as follows:
1.- Kyoto (Japan): The large number of distinguished restaurants in this city allow it to boast 136 stars, but it has a population of 1,465,917 inhabitants, which gives it an average of 9.3 per hundred thousand inhabitants.
2.- San Sebastian (Spain): This beautiful Spanish city, although it only has 14 stars, according to its population density, has an average of 7.5 per hundred thousand people, which makes it exceed the main criteria cities from the list above.
3.- Bergamo (Italy): located just 45 minutes from Milan, the city of beautiful and ancient villas has eight stars, but its population is only 120,694 inhabitants, which makes it have an average of 6.6 stars for every hundred thousand.
4, 5 and 6 Kamakura, Japan: It ranks fourth with ten Michelin stars and an average of 5.7, followed by the city of Bergish Glabdach in Germany, with 6 stars, 105,723 inhabitants and an average of 5.7; and in sixth place is the city of Bruges in Belgium, with 6 stars, 116,741 people and an average of 5.1.
7, 8 and 9 Kobe in Japan is seventh on the list with 46 stars and an average of 4.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, while eight is for Lyon in France, which has 20 Michelin stars; at a rate of 4.1 for every hundred thousand inhabitants; and in position nine is Salzburg (Austria), which with a population of 147,571 people, has 6 stars, for 4.1 on average.
10.- Bordeaux (France): whose fame gives it 9 stars and an average of 4.0. Meanwhile, surprisingly in 11th place is the city of Paris (France): that despite having 85 Michelin stars, it only has an average of 3.9 per hundred thousand people, thanks to a population of 2,193,031 people.
The following cities are organized like this: 12. Osaka (Japan): 95 stars; 3.6 for every 100,000 inhabitants; 13. Marbella (Spain): with an average of 3.2; 14. Basel (Switzerland) with 3.0 average and in position 15. San Francisco (United States). Although this city is ranked 8 with 46 stars, it is in 15th place, with an average of 2.9 stars per hundred thousand inhabitants, while New York with 117 stars does not enter the first 20.
The list culminates with Clermont Ferrand (France) and Namur (Belgium) in 16th and 17th places respectively: both with 2.8 stars; followed by Modena (Italy) in 18th place with an average of 2.7 stars per 100,000 citizens; and they close with the positions 19 and 20, the cities of Reims, France, with 2.7 stars on average and Dijon, France with 2.6 stars on average.
Surely, if you are a lover of good gastronomy these destinations will not be missing from your list. Although, these lists can be modified, since the changes in the stars of individual restaurants will also change the number of stars in each city. Therefore, to be updated, the Michelin guide reviews and updates all the information annually.
ALFA