Jan NorrisWest Palm Beach neighborhood favorite Aioli shines with the gourmands.
Results are in, and the prestigious Michelin awards for 2025 have been bestowed on eight Palm Beach County restaurants.
Among Bib Gourmand awards, recognizing standouts that don’t fit the parameters for the starred review, is the West Palm Beach cafe/bakery Aioli, led by Michael and Melanie Hackman.
- It’s a 10-year-old neighborhood favorite in the south end, with all house-made sourdough based sandwiches, soups and baked goods.
- The anonymous Michelin judges point diners to Aioli’s black bean and tomatillo soup and roasted veggie sandwich with goat cheese on ciabatta.
Palm Beach Meats, also on the south end, is another Bib Gourmand recipient. The premium Wagyu meat market and fast-casual dining room is owned by Eric and Meghan San Pedro. A companion shop operates in Orlando.
Palm Beach County’s Discover the Palm Beaches, its tourism marketing arm, contributed $180,000 to a pool of more than $1 million for two years to encourage the guide to rank restaurants in the tri-county area.
- The guide goes statewide next year.
A list of “Recommended restaurants” in the Michelin guide, 36 in all of the state, includes Buccan, in Palm Beach, a trailblazer founded by Chef Clay Conley that helped modernize cuisine and energize restaurants on the island.
Also recommended: Coolinary and Parched Pig in Palm Beach Gardens, another trailblazing chef, Tim Lipman, offering farm-to-table on a curated daily menu, with wine program created by Jenny Lipman.
Moody Tongue Sushi inside the Hilton West Palm Beach, made the recommended list. Opened this year, the small, omakase-style sushi counter is helmed by sushi chef Hiromi Iwakiri.
Nicholson Muir Distinguished Meats in Boynton Beach scored a recommendation for its premium meats sold in its market and served in the modern steakhouse. Dry-aged prime beef and Wagyu cuts were noted in Michelin’s review.
His modern, elevated Indian cuisine won Pushkar Marathe a Michelin recommendation for Stage Kitchen in Palm Beach Gardens. It opened in 2020 to acclaim that drew the attention of the James Beard Awards, garnering Marathe a Best Chef: South nomination in 2023.
A PGA National Resort restaurant, The Butcher’s Club, also is recommended. The restaurant is run by Chef Jeremy Ford of Miami’s Stubborn Seed, which won a Green Star from Michelin for its sustainability.
For details on all the Florida awards and reviewers’ comments, go to the Michelin Guide website.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to remove the reference to a Michelin star for Komro restaurant after the arrest of chef Jacob Bickelhaupt. Michelin removed the Komro entry in its guide, and the restaurant is closed.
Jan’s a journalist covering the South Florida dining scene for 30-plus years. (She knows where the bones and onion peels are buried.) She’s a Florida native, remembers the state pre-Disney, and travels frequently to visit family and friends from the Keys to the Panhandle.
