In a landmark announcement on June 24, the MICHELIN Guide confirmed its official entry into and inclusion of Saudi Arabia in its 2026 awards.

While MICHELIN Guide inspectors may already be on the ground in Saudi Arabia, the decision to launch in the Kingdom was far from impulsive. For years, anonymous inspectors have been quietly surveying the Kingdom’s dynamic and evolving culinary scene — laying the groundwork for a thoughtful and timely debut. And now, with a surge of local talent, cultural pride, and global ambition — in addition to a burgeoning dining scene — the MICHELIN team believe the timing is right.

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Gwendal Poullennec visited us at List's JAX HQ

We sat down with the MICHELIN Guide's International Director, Gwendal Poullennec, the man steering MICHELIN's global expansion, to discuss the significance of this new chapter for both the awards, and Saudi Arabia's positioning as a global dining hub.

From the misunderstood mechanics of star ratings to the role of sustainability and the rise of Saudi culinary identity, Poullennec offers us a rare glimpse into the philosophy and precision that define the world’s most respected restaurant guide.

What inspired the decision to bring the MICHELIN Guide to Saudi Arabia now, and why do you feel it is the right time?

Before the announcement, our anonymous inspectors were on the ground for some years to monitor the culinary potential in Saudi Arabia, then we decided it was time to move forward. We recognised vibrancy and diversity in the local culinary market; it was just the perfect momentum to support the industry and play a role as catalyst to push the chefs and restaurants.

The first MICHELIN Guide selections for Saudi Arabia will be released online through all our digital platforms in the fourth quarter of 2025 - October 15, November 15, and December 15.

Read more about the announcement here

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What role do you think the MICHELIN Guide has had in guiding and shaping fine dining around the world?

Our main mission and impact are shedding light on the best talented teams and restaurants where you can enjoy the most authentic food experience. It is important to say that we assist food and travel lovers by helping elevate the quality of food available to them.

Also, MICHELIN Guide plays a key role as catalyst, so when we enter a new destination, we set a new benchmark that attracts new talent to the industry, who will help to create great and memorable experiences. Moreover, we create healthy competition among chefs leading to elevating the game year after year. Having MICHELIN-recognised restaurants in any destination may generate more investments since it is a boosting factor to any restaurant business.

What do you believe are the most misunderstood aspects of the Michelin selection process?

I think the main misunderstanding is MICHELIN methodology of the selection process.

It is important to understand that MICHELIN assesses the quality of the food regardless of the type of restaurant, culinary style or the average amount of money spent by each guest. So, it could be a sophisticated, luxury dining destination or humble, local eatery. Therefore, our inspectors check the quality of food, quality of products, mastery of cooking techniques, balance between flavours, personality expressed on the plate and the consistency over time.

It (the MICHELIN award) is about teamwork and delivering exceptional experience. On our side, MICHELIN recommendations must be up to date and reliable, so we send different inspectors round the year to review the same place. All MICHELIN Guide recommendations are made by multiple inspectors to avoid any bias and preserve consistency.

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A chef or restaurant can earn multiple MICHELIN Stars, can you elaborate more on this process?

Being selected by the MICHELIN Guide means an achievement earned by a restaurant that serves good-quality food, but when restaurants earn one, two or three stars, it means that a restaurant made another level of achievement. A three-MICHELIN starred restaurant has undergone a long journey of excellence, earning recognition and delivering exceptional dining experience.

Also, we have the Green Star, which is earned by restaurants following sustainable gastronomy criteria, having initiatives related to using local products, working with the local community, and reducing waste. What really matters is that restaurants with Green MICHELIN Stars can positively impact their guests and local society.

Have you and your team noticed a shift in how the global culinary world views the Middle Eastern dining scene?

I have been working for the MICHELIN Guide for more than 20 years, and I travelled the world to open new MICHELIN Guide selections in different countries, so this region has local food culture that truly expresses itself and which is inspired by culinary heritage, local products and techniques. As you know many people travel for food to get authentic experiences that you will never get anywhere else.

Over the past year in the Middle East, we’ve seen real dynamism and a surge of new talent entering the field, of course a lot of new concepts and emergence of local food scene that truly inspired by its cultural food heritage.

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Saudi Arabia is undergoing a remarkable period of evolution and rapid transformation; how do you see this dynamic momentum shaping the future of its gastronomy and hospitality industries?

Today, Saudi Arabia is emerging culinary destination, so in the past few years there’s a clear sense of dynamism and openness to global trends embracing new trends and techniques to foster the creativity.

Based on our inspectors’ feedback, Saudi Arabia is still in the initial phase, so the MICHELIN Guide will be planting the seeds to contribute to the elevation process of the local food scene, we started in Riyadh and Jeddah, then expanded our mission to AlUla and Eastern Province to discover more talents.

What impact do you anticipate the Michelin Guide’s presence will have on Saudi Arabia’s culinary evolution, and how might it influence both local chefs and international interest?

According to our inspectors’ mission, the culinary scene is still emerging, we are at the beginning of dynamism. It is too early to say if there is potential for a star in the first year because it is a process and the inspectors are still on the field at the time we speak.

Being selected by the Michelin Guide and included in the initial listing is already an achievement and it means their restaurants were carefully chosen by our inspectors based on the quality of food and consistency to serve good food quality all the time.

The announcement we made in Saudi Arabia will raise the bar, so now the chiefs and their teams know that MICHELIN Guide is in town. Any regular guest might be MICHELIN Guide inspector. This shift will energise the entire industry here, so it is not important to focus on the outcome of the first year but let’s see what will happen in five years. We expect a wave of new restaurant openings and significant improvements in quality.

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Do you think that Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a global culinary destination?

I do believe that Saudi Arabia deserves its place on the world culinary map, and the reason we decided to move forward with full scale of the MICHELIN Guide selection because we feel that there is potential and we are confident that much more will happen in the upcoming years.

If you could hop on a plane right now purely for the pleasure of eating, is there one destination that calls you above all others?

As MICHELIN team we love to explore, and we used to say, “The best meal is yet to come”, because we are always seeking new culinary discoveries.

The methodology of our selections is based on our team decision and the process: it’s never a one man show. So before deciding, we send several inspectors with different profiles back to the same place. We have more than 30 different nationalities of inspectors building our restaurants’ recommendations and all of them are passionate about travel and food.

One Michelin Star: Sōlō Restaurant

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I imagine you’ve encountered more than your fair share of culinary magic. But is there one particular experience, whether for the food, the setting, or the people, that left a lasting impression on you that you'll remember forever?

When you are working in that environment you experience a lot of things, but what excites me the most is the discovery and witnessing the creativity of chefs which can take many different forms. The chef can achieve the highest culinary level with a very humble, simple, and local approach along with very sophisticated cuisine and luxurious setting. I think this diversity contributes to the excitement.

What I love is discovering diverse food cultures and finding truly authentic restaurants.

Finally, if you had to describe Saudi Arabia’s culinary scene in one word or phrase, what would it be and why?

It is an emerging culinary destination: watch out!

The first MICHELIN Guide selections for Saudi Arabia will be released online on October 15, November 15, and December 15, 2025.

@gwendalpoullennec
@michelinguide

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