SALT LAKE CITY — Martin Babio said he remembers promising five years ago that he would bring a Michelin-starred restaurant to Utah.
Nervously standing on a stage in Las Vegas, he delivered on that promise.
The chef of the fine dining restaurant that debuted in South Salt Lake last year is now the first Utah eatery to receive an iconic Michelin star, while several others across the Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back also received honors from the famed guide.
Monte, located at 2245 S. West Temple, received one Michelin star, meaning that the guide viewed it as having high-quality cooking that’s worth a stop. The honor was bestowed during the launch of the “Michelin Guide Southwest,” which was celebrated during an event in Las Vegas Wednesday night.
“Dream hard because when you dream hard the dreams come true,” Babio said.
The new guide focused on restaurants from Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada, although all the other stars dished out on Wednesday were all located in Las Vegas, including a two-star winner for having a restaurant worth a detour. No restaurant received the difficult three stars, meaning it’s worth a “special journey.”
Five major elements factor in when considering a restaurant for a star, said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide. These include the quality of ingredients, mastery of cooking techniques, balance of flavors, the personality and creativity of the cuisine and the consistency over time.
“Earning a Michelin star is rare and transformative in achievement,” he said. “It is a distinction recognized around the world, honoring chefs and restaurant teams for their talent, dedication and excellence.”
Monte bills itself as “an intimate, chef-driven table shaped by the seasons, local foraging and modern culinary artistry,” per its website. It works with local farmers, foragers and artisans to shape its regularly changing menu, it adds.
Eight other Utah restaurants received recognition on Wednesday, including five that received special recommendations.
- Handle (Park City)
- Koyote (Salt Lake City)
- Matilda (Park City)
- Nelson Cottage by High West (Park City)
- Star of India (Salt Lake City)
Three received Bib Gourmand recognition, meaning it’s a “well-loved beacon for value-seeking diners looking out for good deals.”
- Feldman’s Deli (Salt Lake City)
- One More Noodle House (South Salt Lake)
- Pho 777 (West Valley City)
The Michelin Guide announced last year that it would launch an edition that focuses solely on restaurants within Utah, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
By then, it had already started dispatching its anonymous inspectors to make reservations and explore neighborhoods, scouting potential restaurants or other culinary businesses to recommend to travelers.
“Our anonymous inspectors have been eager to expand further into the Southwest and share their discoveries with the world,” Poullennec said last year. “We are excited to showcase the distinct cuisine styles that are representative of the cultures throughout the Southwest, which blends a rich mix of traditions and culinary talent.”
The guide has been serving out its famed stars for a century now, several years after the French tire manufacturer created it in 1900 to encourage travel.
While the guide is best known for its food recommendations, it also makes other travel suggestions that have highlighted Utah before. The state received a prestigious three-star rating in 2018 for its outdoor gems, especially its national parks.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
