Michelin star season is upon us. The American South will find out who’s getting one on October 21, while New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston have to wait until December 14. That’s when some of the country’s most expensive restaurants will learn whether the French tire company thinks their cooking is worth a damn.
This year, everyone is particularly interested in Philadelphia and Boston, which joined the guide in 2025. Michelin awarded stars to just three restaurants in Philadelphia and one in Boston. Now there’s an entirely new distinction in these cities between being one of the best restaurants in town and being one of the best restaurants according to Michelin.
RPS has assembled predictions, with the help of many calls, texts, and emails to chef friends and hospitality insiders who have no stake in the outcome. (Sorry, Flynn McGarry. We would have asked, but you’re in the running.)
These aren’t necessarily the restaurants we like most, or the ones hardest to get into during the current reservation wars. They’re the ones we think might actually win.
And if you’re Ozempic is really Ozempic-ing, and you have no interest in restaurants, fret not. After the jump: Beauty Broker’s million-dollar facelift, Nantucket’s last mudslide, first-class amenity kit collectors, Gen Z’s art spending, a guide to which artists to watch for at Frieze London, luxury nanny quarters, Forte dei Marmi’s Gulf invasion, the Elon Musk documentary, St. Barth’s most coveted new hotel, Bryan Johnson on peptides and more. Plus, maps of Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia with our Michelin star predictions for each.
