Photo Credit: Rey Lopez

The second annual MICHELIN Guide Ceremony brought together New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. for a night of excitement on December 9. Here are the newest winners for Washington DC and Chicago!

WASHINGTON D.C.

Photo Credit: Rey Lopez

Two eateries receive one MICHELIN Star for first time in DC, while Oyster Oyster earned a MICHELIN Green Star. “The MICHELIN Guide Inspection team is delighted to add both Mita and Omakase at Barrack’s Row to the MICHELIN Star family,” Poullennec said. “In addition to these restaurants, it’s evident the culinary scene in Washinton, D.C. continues to focus its passion on sustainable gastronomy, with a new MICHELIN Green Star being awarded to Oyster Oyster.”

Those restaurants are as follows:

Mita (Vegetarian/Latin American cuisine)

Latin American cuisine, only plant based. That’s the premise behind this contemporary space set in the Shaw neighborhood. It’s tasting menu only, but short and long formats ensure a fit. Chefs Tatiana Mora and Miguel Guerra share their creative spirit here, where influences span from Brazil and Bolivia to Colombia and dishes sport originality. A basket of arepas is a fun dish featuring a variety of textures and flavors with tasty sauces like guasacaca, cashew sour cream with chili oil, and butter made of chontaduro. Watermelon crudo with fermented carrot in a cucumber leche de tigre sauce is inventive and bold, while a slice of mushroom terrine wrapped in greens with layers of potato delivers on umami, bite after bite.

Omakase at Barrack’s Row (Japanese/Sushi cuisine)

Chef Yi “Ricky” Wang, who trained under Chef Nakazawa before running a series of pop-ups, is now settled in at this counter, located up a set of metal stairs in an industrial-chic space. Take special note of the paintings that line that staircase—they’re nods to a longstanding tradition of fishermen brushing their catch with ink and pressing it into rice paper—and you may be presented with a similar piece at your meal. Chef Wang’s omakase features a few otsumami, perhaps poached sweet shrimp in a smoked Maine uni sauce, before progressing to nigiri. It’s all impressive, from the Boston surf clam finished with kumquat kosho to the hay-smoked Spanish mackerel sourced from the Carolinas that’s bold but balanced.

MICHELIN Green Star

Oyster Oyster (Vegetarian/Contemporary cuisine)

Chef Rob Rubba delivers a focused vegetarian/vegan cuisine, with ingredients sourced locally from small organic and regenerative farms. The restaurant also boasts a rooftop garden, which supplies herbs, flowers and tender greens for the menu. The kitchen recycles spent cooking oil by turning it into candle wax and their menus are printed on recycled paper embedded with wildflower seeds. The kitchen operates on induction and electric cooking equipment with zero waste cooking techniques and no single use plastics.

CHICAGO

Photo Credit: Kelly Sando

Cariño stole the spotlight earning one MICHELIN Star for Mexican cuisine. Said Gwendal Poullennec, the International Director of the MICHELIN Guides, “The Inspectors were unanimously impressed with Chef Norman Fenton’s creations, which celebrate Mexican cuisine in an ambitious manner. Our Inspectors were delighted by the bold and creative tasting menu in addition to the diligent and engaging service from the restaurant’s staff.”

Photo Credit: Kelly Sando

The guide says: In a cozy corner of Uptown where the train rumbles overhead, Chef Norman Fenton mines his history and his travels to celebrate Mexican cuisine in a distinct, ambitious manner. Quickly, the courses compound: a stunning huitlacoche ravioli with fried corn silk, then a queso truffle quesadilla, and at some point, a lamb tartare tostada seasoned in the style of al pastor. Indeed, this tasting menu features boldness and creativity in spades, starting with “chips and salsa” in the form of salsa verde jelly and a tortilla crumble.

Photo Credit: Kelly Sando