First created in 1926 to help encourage road trips — and therefore, purchases of tires — the Michelin restaurant rating system today is known for recognizing the very best restaurants in the world. Getting even one Michelin star is a huge honor, and only 145 restaurants in the entire world have the distinct honor of three stars. It’a designation the Michelin guide reserves only for “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey.”
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At the Most Expensive Michelin Star Restaurants in the World, Dinner Can Cost Up to $2,100 — Per Person
That means when you go to a Michelin restaurant, you can usually count on the cuisine being world-class — and expensive. Though there are a few Michelin-starred restaurants where you can get a meal for under $10, they’re few and far between. And a new analysis of restaurants from Chef’s Pencil, a website for recipes from professional chefs, recently shed some light on just how pricey they can be.
The top 15 most expensive Michelin-stared restaurants in the world span the globe, but four of the top 10 are in Japan. Two are in New York City, and the rest are scattered around in places like Copenhagen, San Francisco, and Paris.
To find the most most expensive Michelin-stared restaurants, the report looked at the standard price of the most expensive tasting menu on a restaurants fall and winter 2024 menus. For most menus, wine or alcohol pairings are an additional add-on cost, though a few include it in the “base” rate. Here’s what you should expect to pay at the top 15 priciest Michelin restaurants in the world.
Photo: Chef’s Pencil
Michelin-starred restaurants command generally high prices for multiple reasons. The most expensive Michelin-starred restaurants usually source the finest, rarest ingredients from around the globe, which can be quite pricey, especially if they’re buying in small amounts. Restaurants of this caliber usually have high attention to detail for everything from decor to tablescaping, service, and training, and it cots more to professional who can work in a restaurant of that caliber. That extends to the kitchen, of course, and the most expensive Michelin-starred restaurants employ some of the best chefs on the planet, who also require serious compensation. Finally, just having a Michelin star creates an air of rarity, allowing restaurants to draw diners willing to pay a premium for what they perceived as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
For the most expensive Michelin-starred restaurants in the world above, though, much of the cost can be attributed to their use rare ingredients in menu. From Shanghai to NYC, here are some of the most exclusive ingredients you’ll find at the restaurants above.
Kiwami Crab at Gina Kitafuku (Tokyo, Japan)
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At Ginza Kitafuku in Japan, the most expensive tasting menu is $2,130, not counting the sake pairing, which is an additional 8,000 yen (about $51). It’s the “Echizen crab Kiwami menu,” and it focuses on extremely rare Kiwani crabs.
Echizen crab is a prized delicacy in Japan, revered for their exquisite flavor and rarity. It’s a type of snow crab harvested off the coast of Fukui Prefecture renowned for its delicate, sweet meat and rich, buttery roe. The crabs are graded, with only the finest specimens earning the prestigious “Kiwami” designation. These are the crabs Gina Kitafuku uses, and they’re extremely rare — per Chef’s Pencil, in 2021, only 67 snow crabs made the cut. Kiwami means “ultimate” or “extreme” in Japanese, and to earn the name, the crab needs to weigh at least 3.3 pounds, have a shell width of at least 5.7 inches across, and have a claw width of at least 1.2 inches.
California White Truffle at Quince (San Francisco, CA)
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Quince is ranked 12th of 4,937 restaurants in San Francisco on TripAdvisor, so that tells you something about the quality. And the fact that it’s the sixth-most expensive Michelin-starred restaurant in the world tells you something about the price. The menu at Quince changes nightly, so you won’t find a menu online. In fact, the most you’ll find is a general statement of “The menu features local ingredients of Northern California, and seasonal produce from the restaurant’s own organic farm in Bolinas in West Marin.” But if you do a little digging, you’ll find that autumn is when it serves its “white-truffle-focused tasting menu,” priced at $795 per person, according to Chef’s Pencil.
California white truffles are a relatively recent discovery in the world of fine dining. Found primarily in northern California under oak and hazelnut trees, they’re often compared to the white truffles of Alba, Italy. While California’s aren’t as renowned, they share a similar earthy, garlicky aroma with subtle nutty undertones. They’re also extremely hard to cultivate, requiring very specific soil conditions and moisture levels. But since the white truffle industry in California is still in its infancy, chefs have to mostly rely on natural foraging, making them extremely labor-intensive.
Caviar at Caviar Russe (NY, NY)
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It’s no secret what the “secret” ingredient is that makes Caviar Russe the most expensive Michelin-stared restaurant in the US, and third most expensive in the world. (If we haven’t said it enough: it’s caviar).
Caviar is expensive because it comes from the eggs of sturgeons, a prehistoric fish species that takes about a decade to produce eggs (roe). Many sturgeon species are critically endangered due to overfishing and habitat destruction, severely limiting supply. Naturally, the scarcity drives up prices, especially for prized varieties like beluga, osetra, and sevruga caviar.
Caviar Russe’s 11-course fall Grand Tasting Menu includes unadorned caviar testings by spoon, as well as a seafood-heavy menu that incorporates caviar, such as Tasmanian Sea Trout with gooseberries and caviar, or Japanese mackerel with pineapple, hearts of palm, and caviar.
Waygu beef at Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai, China)
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Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet offers a 20-course tasting menu as the standard offering — yes, 20. It’s known for making dining into a immersive presentation, relying heavily on sound and aroma in addition to taste. It describes itself as using “multi-sensory technology,” and while it seems to know its a bit avant-garde, it doesn’t rely on novelty over quality.
A key dish on its $1,230-per-person tasting menu is waygu beef, which has to come from specific Japanese cattle breeds raised in specific conditions. Demand for wagyu beef has also surged surged globally, fueled by its reputation as the pinnacle of luxury dining. Because supply is low, that continues to drive up prices. 