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Victoria Burrows

When the Michelin Guide Hong Kong and Macau first launched its Green Star for sustainability in 2021, Amber at Mandarin Oriental The Landmark was a glaring omission.
The fine-dining restaurant had two Michelin stars at that point and, over the previous 16 years, had become one of the leading lights for sustainability in Hong Kong.
“We got so many messages … asking why Amber didn’t get the Green Star. I could only reply, ‘Well, I have no idea,’” says Richard Ekkebus, the hotel’s culinary director, who has helmed the hotel’s flagship restaurant since day one. “Sustainability is part of the DNA we’ve grown over the years.”
He adds that many of the initiatives they pioneered – such as phasing out plastic bottles for glass and setting up an in-house water filtration system back in 2017 – were subsequently adopted across the Mandarin Oriental’s global network.
Ekkebus realised the restaurant and hotel needed to better communicate their sustainability efforts. As a result, his team put together a document to record the restaurant’s three sustainability pillars: social, sourcing and natural resources. With everything spelled out, Amber gained a Green Star the following year, joining Roganic, the sole Hong Kong restaurant awarded a Green Star in 2021.

Dropping the Green Star for Mindful Voices
How exactly Michelin audits for sustainability has remained shrouded in mystery.
In a response to the South China Morning Post via email, Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, clarifies that the Green Star category “highlights restaurants at the forefront of the industry that offer dining experiences that combine culinary excellence with outstanding commitments to the environment and are a source of inspiration both for keen foodies and the hospitality industry as a whole.”
He adds: “Our inspectors consider things such as the provenance of the ingredients; the use of seasonal produce; the restaurant’s initiatives such as food waste systems; general recycling; resource management; and the communication between the team and the guests about all these initiatives.”
In October 2025, eagle-eyed critics noticed that Michelin had started to quietly drop the Green Star listings for select cities and regions from its website. But it was not until more than half a year later, on May 18, 2026, that the company issued a press release to formally announce it would be phasing the Green Stars out globally, replacing them with an editorial platform called Mindful Voices.
“[The platform] highlights people, not places, as we have noticed that it’s thanks to inspiring individuals who challenge the status quo, take risks and propose new ways of approaching gastronomy, hospitality and wine, that we move forward,” Poullennec explains.
The platform was launched on June 1 at the Michelin Guide Nordic Countries ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark, and will be rolled out gradually across Europe and then the world.
Michelin has also since expanded to cover the hotel and wine sectors, with its Michelin Keys and Michelin Grapes ratings, respectively. As the Green Star was limited to restaurants, Poullennec says that Michelin “has opted for clarity: three sectors, a single editorial framework”.
Additionally, starting with the 2027 editions, “the Michelin Green Star will no longer be awarded in any Michelin Guide destination worldwide”.
Disappointment and dismay
Chefs and restaurateurs have had a range of reactions to the news that Michelin’s Green Star is disappearing.
Song Jung-eun, the owner-director of A Flower Blossom on the Rice in Seoul, South Korea, says she feels “a great sense of regret”. She was not aware that Michelin had cancelled the Green Star rating until approached for an interview for this article.
A Flower Blossom on the Rice earned its first Green Star in 2020 and held it for five consecutive years. It has also earned multiple Bib Gourmands, an award from Michelin to recognise high-quality food at reasonable prices.
“We’ve always regarded earning the Green Star as a greater source of pride than the Bib Gourmand,” Song says. “I also saw it as an indicator that Michelin recognises the social role gastronomy plays amid global change and challenges.”

However, at the 2026 Michelin Guide Seoul and Busan award ceremony in March, at which Green Stars were still awarded, A Flower Blossom on the Rice lost both its Green Star and Bib Gourmand.
“We were puzzled when our name wasn’t mentioned for either the Bib Gourmand or the Green Star in 2026,” she says, adding that nothing had changed in the restaurant’s sustainability-focused approach.
It continues to use mostly eco-friendly ingredients with no chemical or synthetic additives or GMO ingredients, including local soybeans for their traditional jang, jayeom salt from tidal flats, and small amounts of carefully sourced Korean beef in the mainly plant-forward kitchen.
Despite this, Song believes the Green Star gave greater meaning to Michelin’s recognition for gastronomy professionals worldwide, as well as for domestic and international visitors seeking out good food.
Haoma was the first restaurant in Bangkok to earn a Green Star, in 2022. It joined Pru in Phuket, which, in 2020, was the first restaurant in Thailand to receive the sustainability accolade, and its sister restaurant Jampa, which also received the award in 2022.
For Haoma’s chef-founder Deepanker Khosla, Michelin’s cancellation of the Green Star is “disappointing”; earning the Green Star was “deeply personal” and a defining moment for his restaurant.
“It validated the path we had chosen at Haoma long before sustainability became widely celebrated. We built our own farm, worked towards zero waste, and created a circular food system because we believed that was how a restaurant should operate,” he says.

Fellow Bangkok chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam shares a similar sentiment, saying that the Green Star awarded to her two-Michelin-star Baan Tepa Culinary Space in the 2025 Michelin Guide Thailand meant a lot to her and her team.
“It also helped shine a light on local agriculture. Thailand has so many incredible ingredients and producers, and I think the Green Star encouraged more chefs to celebrate what’s already here,” she says.
“Since the star, we’ve kept evolving. Today, we’re thinking not just about reducing waste, but about how the restaurant can give something back to our farmers, our community and the environment.”

Pragmatic views on Michelin’s decision
In Japan, however, the influence of the Green Stars has been limited, according to chef Hiroyasu Kawate of Florilege in Tokyo, which has received the accolade since it was first introduced in the 2021 Tokyo guide.
“I don’t think it had a major impact on general diners,” he says.
He takes a pragmatic view on Michelin’s decision.
“It made me realise once again how challenging it is to judge and sustain such an award. The concept of sustainability can look vastly different depending on an individual’s stance, perspective and mindset,” he says.
“Since there is no single, simple definition of what is ‘correct’, evaluating it through an award system is naturally complex.”
It’s no longer enough for sustainability to be aspirational marketing fodder
Juliane Caillouette Noble, The Sustainable Restaurant Association
There may also be a more concrete reason – new legislation. The sustainability of a restaurant can only really be gauged through transparent, consistent criteria and a thorough assessment of operations.
“The Green Star did a great job of celebrating careful attention to provenance, farm-to-table sourcing, and so on, but, because it was based on evaluators visiting a restaurant, there was no way of knowing what was going on behind the scenes in any verifiable way,” says Juliane Caillouette Noble, CEO at The Sustainable Restaurant Association, a UK-based body.
“Consumers are increasingly sick of vague and misleading sustainability claims, and this has required tightening legislation. Sustainability marks are now under more scrutiny than ever,” she adds.
Earlier this year, the EU adopted the Empowering Consumers Directive, an anti-greenwashing law designed to protect European consumers from potentially misleading environmental claims and labels.
“Since that moment it was clear that – without a transparent framework behind it – the Green Star’s days were numbered,” Caillouette Noble says.
“From every standpoint – environmental, social, legislative and even the long-term survival of the sector – it’s no longer enough for sustainability to be aspirational marketing fodder. Now and into the future, this work needs to deliver real change through tangible, transparent and ongoing action, which was never something the Green Star was designed or positioned to accomplish.”
As part of Amber’s 20th anniversary celebrations last year, Ekkebus arranged a special dinner with chefs Vicky Lau and Choi Ming-fai of Mora, Joris Rousseau of Feuille, and Adam Thomas of Roganic – the first time chefs from all four Green Star-awarded restaurants in Hong Kong had cooked together.
While celebrations such as these under the banner of the Green Stars will soon be a thing of the past, Ekkebus remains unfazed.
“We never did these efforts to gain a Michelin Green Star,” the chef says. To him, there are more important things at stake.
“The reality is nothing in life is sustainable; we’re the invasive species on the planet, it’s humanity that’s the problem. We just need to find that right balance within nature, where we can coexist.”


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‘Disappointing’, ‘regret’: Michelin retires Green Star accolade, sparking mixed reactions

Richard Ekkebus of Amber and Mandarin Oriental The Landmark has pioneered many of the sustainability initiatives at the hotel. Amber gained a Michelin Green Star in 2022 and has retained it since. Photo: Amber

Amber works with the regenerative organic farming co-op Farmhouse Productions in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Photo: Amber

A typical spread of dishes at A Flower Blossom on the Rice in Seoul. Photo: A Flower Blossom on the Rice

Chef Deepanker Khosla is the chef-founder of Bangkok’s Haoma. Photo: Sahil Rattan

Bangkok chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam of Baan Tepa Culinary Space said that their Green Star meant a lot to her team. Photo: Diego Arenas

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Green tea shaved ice from Shari Shari Kakigori House in Causeway Bay. Photo: courtesy of Shari Shari

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Dumplings with spicy sauce from The Red Cuisine in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. Owner Joyce Yuen says business has dropped and costs have risen in the past few years. Photo: May Tse

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Photo: Co

Chefs You Meiyi (left) and Yang Jin are the couple behind Co in Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan province. They source ingredients from their own 15-acre farm located 20km outside the city. Photo: Co

(From left) French lobster, a tuna dish and an amuse-bouche of Wagyu tartare with house-made pickles at Co in Chengdu. Photos: Co

Pomfret served with huoxiang foam and a yuxiang butter sauce. Photo: Co

Co’s interior was designed by Gokan Studio, with elements inspired by nature. Photo: Co

Five-spiced rabbit heads from modern bistro You Tu Tou in Chengdu. Photo: You Tu Tou

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Li’s dish titled Organic Corn 3.0 at Plant-Based Kitchen. Photo: Plant-Based Kitchen

A 15-year-old Li prepares food during his culinary exchange in Hong Kong. Photo: Andre Li Feiyue

A 19-year-old Li takes a picture of food while working at Li Chateau in Guangzhou. Photo: Andre Li Feiyue

Li (centre) celebrates with his team at Plant-Based Kitchen after the restaurant was included in the 2025 Guangzhou Michelin Guide. Photo: Andre Li Feiyue

Li’s chargrilled lion’s mane mushroom dish at Plant-Based Kitchen. Photo: Plant-Based Kitchen

A dish featuring isatis root at Plant-Based Kitchen. Photo: Plant-Based Kitchen

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Once a beacon for sustainable dining, Michelin’s Green Star is being phased out globally in favour of a platform called Mindful Voices


Once a beacon for sustainable dining, Michelin’s Green Star is being phased out globally in favour of a platform called Mindful Voices.


‘Disappointing’, ‘regret’: Michelin retires Green Star accolade, sparking mixed reactions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Once a beacon for sustainable dining, Michelin’s Green Star is being phased out globally in favour of a platform called Mindful Voices

Once a beacon for sustainable dining, Michelin’s Green Star is being phased out globally in favour of a platform called Mindful Voices