Dubai restaurant Tresind Studio's three-star Michelin rating should serve as a “wake-up call for Indian chefs” around the world, according to Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guide.
“It will be a matter of national pride. And a lot more people will now be willing to explore Indian food cultures. I say cultures because it is a subcontinent with a lot of diversity,” he said.
Calling Tresind Studio chef Himanshu Saini a “pioneer”, Poullennec praised him for pushing culinary boundaries.
“Himanshu Saini and all the team members have been putting Indian food on the world culinary map. I think he has opened the floor for many more talents to join the industry in India,” he said.
Poullennec was in the UAE on Thursday night at the launch of the 2025 Michelin Guide Dubai where, for the first time since Michelin came to the UAE in 2022, two restaurants earned the coveted three stars – Tresind Studio, which earned its first star in 2022, and European eatery FZN by Bjorn Frantzen.
The lauded Michelin Guide has been turned to for more than 100 years, directing diners and gastro-tourists to the finest restaurants in destinations around the world.
Poullenec called the three-star honour “an extraordinary achievement”.
“There are just about 140 restaurants with three stars worldwide – so it’s the creme de la creme of world gastronomy,” he said.
Another Indian restaurant also made it to the Dubai list, London import Jamavar, which earned one Michelin star. Thai restaurant Manao, whose head chef Abhiraj Khatwani is Indian, also got one star.
They are among the 14 restaurants with a star each in Dubai, and join three restaurants that retained their two stars from last year – Jason Atherton's Row on 45, Il Ristorante – Niko Romito and Stay by Yannick Alleno.
Five new venues were also added to the Bib Gourmand category – which recognises “just-as-esteemed and friendly” establishments that serve good food at reasonable rates – bringing the total number of restaurants in that category to 22.
To make it to the guide, anonymous food inspectors visit restaurants, and apply the same five criteria around the world – quality of ingredients; mastery of cooking techniques; harmony of flavours; expression of the chef’s personality in the cuisine; and consistency, both over time and across the menu.
Speaking at the event, Poullennec said Dubai has emerged as “a real gastronomic hub in just a few years”.
“It is definitely one of the frontrunners on the global culinary stage. If you go around Dubai, you will be able to get a taste of the world. You will be able to travel just by visiting the restaurants.”
