NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Chef Serigne Mbaye’s Senegalese restaurant, Dakar NOLA, won a Michelin star Wednesday night.
The recognition came mere months after Mbaye won the James Beard award for best chef in the region this June. Then, he credited New Orleans for his success.
“It’s where I finally felt free to be fully myself, where my community embraced what I had to offer and made me feel like I belonged,” Mbaye said at the June ceremony in Chicago.
Emeril’s keeps two stars
Michelin also gave Emeril’s two stars for the second year in a row on Wednesday night. The guide also reawarded Saint-Germain and Zasu with one star each.
Michelin also gave out dozens of recommendations to local restaurants, including several added to its Bib Gourmand awards, which recognize restaurants with “award-winning food with a terrific value.”
“It’s up from last year, and I think that’s…the goal that everybody that I talk to has…is just the more the merrier when it comes to the restaurants that we get… in the guide,” said E.J. Lagasse, the chef and co-owner at Emeril’s, who is the son of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.
Impact on tourism
Kelly Schulz, senior vice president of communications at New Orleans & Company, said the city’s success with Michelin helps the rest of the world see what New Orleanians already know: the city has great food.
“The Michelin brand gives us an added level of endorsement, third-party credibility, international expertise that is really important,” Schulz said.
She added that since the first Michelin guide of the South last year, chefs have noted impacts.
“I’ve heard a few of them anecdotally say that their restaurant is now… it’s much harder to get reservations,” she said. “They have seen people come from other countries specifically to try their restaurant.”
Celebrating a family legacy
Lagasse said keeping Emeril’s two stars is as much about celebrating his family’s legacy as it is about bringing it into the future.
“We’ve been in the same spot, the same bricks for 36 years,” he said in an interview outside of the restaurant Thursday afternoon. “Our goal is to…at least do 36 more, and that’s…the mindset that we come in with every day.”
Schulz said that despite New Orleans’ relatively small population compared to cities in its region, it “(punches) above (its) weight” when it comes to culture. She said that as tourists travel to cities based on Michelin recognition, these wins help make New Orleans their next choice.
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Dining and Cooking