9 restaurants earn Michelin stars in the inaugural Quebec guide
Posted May 15, 2025 5:07 pm.
Last Updated May 16, 2025 1:29 pm.
Nine restaurants from Quebec were awarded stars in the first-ever Michelin guide published Thursday.
Quebec City’s Tanière3 topped the charts with two stars to its name, while four other restaurants earned a star each, winning over anonymous inspectors.
Montreal wasn’t far behind with three one-star restaurants to its name. One restaurant from Rimouski was also awarded one-star status.
With the publication of the Michelin Guide Québec, the province joins Toronto and Vancouver as Michelin’s third Canadian destination.
“Just to give you an idea, Toronto has had the Michelin guy for three years. They have 90 in total. Vancouver has had it for three years. They’re at 74. So just in our year number one, Quebec is really blowing it out of the park. For us, it’s really like a testament of how good our food is,” said Sébastien Benedict, the vice-president of public affairs & communications with Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance.
The winners of the prestigious culinary recognition from Montreal are:
- Jérôme Ferrer – Europea on de la Montagne Street
- Mastard on Bélanger Street
- Sabayon on Centre Street
“Quebec has a very unique culture, especially the fact that we have such an amazing, you know, food scene here, something that a lot of cities don’t have. We have such a wide, diverse and a very educated set of diners in this city too,” said Dustin Gillman, a blogger with Food Guy MTL.
“It’s the most beautiful birthday gift our establishment could have received. And to also help shine a light on Quebec and Montreal around the world — that touches me deeply,” said Jérôme Ferrer, a chef at Europea.
“Personally, it represents a childhood dream that started when I began cooking at 15 years old — and now I’m 50.”
But for this year’s star recipients – while a Michelin star is a dream come true – their priorities still haven’t changed.
“I’m not sure it’s necessary to reach the place I’ve reached. What matters is working without losing yourself along the way. Working for the clients, working for the artisans, the producers — cooking for someone else. It’s an act of love and generosity. You have to stay true to yourself,” said Ferrer.
“I was convinced I was nearing the end of my career — at least heading into semi-retirement. How will this [Michelin star] influence things? It’s about continuing on, because even if I’m on the last lap, let’s have fun. Let’s see the dream through to the very end. Why not go for a second star — maybe even a third.”
“It’s a really nice honor. I mean, we’ve been working for 25 years in the industry, so it’s a really nice recognition. It’s for the restaurant too. It’s such a personal project for us that it’s really nice to see that our project, our way, our very personal way of what a restaurant is to us is recognized by the Michelin,” said Marie-Josée Beaudoin, the owner of Sabayon.
I think you cannot do it to get a Michelin star. I don’t think it’s a good thing. I think if it comes, it’s a really nice recognition, but you have to stay true to yourself. We opened this personal project and it’s going to stay the same. We have no plan to change anything.
The Quebec guide also awarded 17 “Bib Gourmands” status which recognizes spots “for great food at great value.”
Seven of those are from Montreal:
- Annette bar à vin
- Cadet
- Casavant
- Le Petit Alep
- L’Express
- Parapluie
- Rôtisserie La Lune
The latter is the newly minted BBQ creation from the people behind Mon Lapin.
Since 2021, Michelin has also been recognizing restaurants that “hold themselves accountable for both their ethical and environmental standards.”
The Michelin guide awarded three Quebec restaurants with Green Stars for their sustainable practices: Espace Old Mill, Stanbridge East; Auberge Saint-Mathieu, Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc; Alentours, Quebec City.
This year’s launch stems from a three-year agreement between the Alliance and Michelin to promote the Michelin Guide internationally in order to bring more tourism to Quebec, which, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism, 70 per cent of potential visitors are interested in.
Montreal shortchanged?
“I thought Montreal was shortchanged and I thought we should have had a few more stars,” said Lesley Chesterman, food critic. “I was a little bit sad because I’ve been covering the scene for so long and I thought I was underwhelmed. I hope in the future, they’re going to be here for at least three years, so I hope in the future we see maybe more recognition from Montreal.”
Chesterman, who was a fine dining critic for the Montreal Gazette for many years, added that she was happy to see that Quebec City got some recognition. “[It] has been a long time coming. So, you know, as a very proud Montrealer, I would have liked to have seen a bigger splash from Montreal, but next year. We’ll get better.”
“What we’re hoping now is in the upcoming years that we’ll get even more selection, more stars, more Bib Gourmand. You know, everyone is talking about the 10 restaurants that got stars, but we’ve got 17 Bib Gourmand, which are great food for great price,” said Benedict.
“So that’s also really fun. It’s something else that people can explore with a different budget. So for us, not only getting more stars, but getting more of these type of restaurants and getting Michelin to discover them in the upcoming years is our goal.”
