The Michelin story stealing the spotlight in Dallas-Fort Worth is how brand-new French restaurant Mamani won 1 Michelin star.

The conversation is largely not around whether Mamani deserves the big win. No, it’s around why this monumental win happened in the first place.

Mamani opened Sept. 2, 2025, and was one of the most interesting new restaurants of the year in Dallas-Fort Worth. Its executive chef-partner, 37-year-old Christophe De Lellis, is toiling in the restaurant daily, fine-tuning his newborn alongside a fleet of servers, chefs, managers, a sommelier and even a full-time baking director. De Lellis has told The Dallas Morning News he’s proud of his French restaurant — and it’s the first that’s really his — but that Mamani is a work in progress. It’s a great painting and he’s still holding the brush.

Yet, sometime in the restaurant’s first 48 dinners, anonymous Michelin critics ate at Mamani several times and were impressed enough with its food to hand it Dallas’ only new Michelin star of 2025.

It was a move so shocking, The News asked tight-lipped company Michelin to explain.

In a statement, Michelin’s anonymous chief inspector — a person rarely heard from in the media — said De Lellis’ impressive resume helped his chances. Much of De Lellis’ professional career was working for revered French chef Joël Robuchon. Even after his death, Robuchon is one of the most decorated Michelin-starred chefs in the world.

De Lellis’ roots are in France, the home of Michelin.

Here’s Michelin: “Chef Christophe De Lellis has had a consistent background before opening Mamani,” the anonymous, unnamed chief inspector wrote to The News, “and multiple meals there proved the level of the cuisine at this new Dallas restaurant to be indicative of cuisine at the 1 star level.”

Dallas diners, this is huge.

Unpack this statement, and it says that De Lellis’ work elsewhere, likely referring to his executive chef job at Joël Robuchon Restaurant in Las Vegas some 1,200 miles away, spoke volumes about the work he has done at Mamani for fewer than two months. (De Lellis also helped at sibling restaurant Bar Colette in Dallas while Mamani was under construction.)

We should compare Michelin’s statement against its criteria when awarding stars. Though the company keeps much of its methodology a mystery, it has long said its critics use a five-point test while looking for the world’s best restaurants:

1. Quality of ingredients
2. Harmony of flavors
3. Mastery of techniques
4. Personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine
5. Consistency, both across the entire menu and over time

It’s possible four of these five items are achievable in under two months. But No. 5, consistency “over time”: How short is too short? Dallas Morning News readers and rule-followers have flooded us with comments, wondering why Michelin took such liberties with the time element.

Michelin confirmed it does not have a cutoff date for when restaurants are too new to be eligible for inclusion in the Guide. Mamani is just that great, we could assume.

We return, however, to criteria No. 4, the personality of the chef. De Lellis’ pedigree spoke volumes in just a few weeks. But, we should remind ourselves a Michelin star goes to the restaurant, not to the chef. Is that the case with Mamani? The Michelin inspector’s explanation makes it sound like De Lellis was a big part of the win.

“Of course the star belongs to our entire amazing team,” De Lellis said in a company statement two days after the award.

Some News readers have expressed empathy for a small number of other excellent Dallas restaurants that had nearly 365 days since last year’s ceremony to adjust and correct their menus, vying for Michelin attention, while Mamani got it so quickly.

But while Mamani amazed judges, other Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants could have, too. Mamani winning a star does not diminish another restaurant’s chances.

Tatsu Dallas, a Japanese restaurant in Deep Ellum, was the only other Michelin star recipient in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025.

The News asked Michelin how many other restaurants across the globe were awarded Michelin stars within 2 months or less of being open. A spokeswoman said Michelin doesn’t keep that kind of data on the countless restaurants it has visited since the Guide started in 1900.

We are left with two takeaways. First, Mamani has an army of culinary talent at its new Uptown Dallas restaurant led by superstar chef De Lellis. Second, Michelin makes its own rules, and we are left to understand what we can. You decide whether you can accept what we can’t understand.

This story is part of The Dallas Morning News’ coverage of the Michelin Guide Texas. Read more about the restaurant picks in Dallas-Fort Worth and across Texas.