Restaurants That Earned A Michelin Star, Then Vanished

In the history of Michelin stars, this prestigious distinction has been synonymous with the dining experience for almost a century. What began as a French tire company's guide for travelers in 1920 has since expanded to a prestigious honor that has brought fame and acclaim to chefs and restaurants internationally through its annual guide by way of incognito inspectors. 

Though the recognition represents the highest achievement in the culinary world, some chefs feel that the stars are a trap in an industry already vexed by perfectionism. Receiving a star creates the illusion of over-the-top opulence when, in reality, the stress accompanying both working towards and maintaining a star is stark in contrast. A 2024 study in the Strategic Management Journal showed that receiving a Michelin star corresponds with an increased likelihood of restaurant closure.

"You don't have that necessary freedom or joy to make discoveries and to make mistakes because you're simply worried about losing that star, or trying to achieve that first star," said chef Scott Nishiyama of Ethel's Fancy in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Chefs like Nishiyama have also cited how stars can harm a restaurant's income, as diners may assume the restaurant is too extravagant for everyday fare. In addition to the potential slump in business, the obsession with maintaining perfection, which runs the gamut from expensive high-quality ingredients to what toilet paper is in the restroom, can be burdensome. Landlords have also raised the rent on their tenants after receiving a star due to the perceived increase in value.

While Michelin stars can offer many benefits regarding exposure, unforeseen expenses can be fatal to a restaurant's longevity and collective health. We've listed some of the most heartbreaking closures that followed receiving a Michelin star, including Deanes EIPIC, Le Gavroche, and Momofuku Ko.

Serving the community of Belfast, Ireland, for over 25 years, this one-star-rated restaurant announced its closure at the end of 2023. Deanes EIPIC opened its doors in 1997 and received a Michelin star for its tasting menu that same year. Now, chef Michael Deane believes fine dining has become too expensive for customers and restaurants despite the accolades.

"Eipic as a whole wasn't a restaurant that was dying," said Alex Greene, the executive chef, in an interview with CNN. In the same interview, Greene also cited how customer expectations play a role in a restaurant's profits. "The cost of delivering that expectation has doubled since lockdown," he added. However, with the inflated costs of doing business, restaurant owners can't always up their prices for fear of deterring customers, especially in an area like Belfast that traditionally doesn't see the same wealth as cities like New York or London. "The world has changed, my team has changed, customers have changed their choices, and I have changed, and, while people are back to eating out, there is increasing cost sensitivity," Deane said in an interview with Belfast Telegraph.

Though the closure of Deanes EIPIC is certainly the end of an era, Deane looks forward to new business opportunities and has already opened a new restaurant, mrDeanes Bistro Bar and Social, in the former EIPIC space. The new menu gives a nod to the history of Deane's by featuring some of its classic dishes as advertised on the restaurant's website. "I am excited and invigorated by this opportunity to refresh the business, but I must also say how very proud I am of the Michelin star and the length of time we have been fortunate to have it," he told Belfast Telegraph.

Born into a family of restaurateurs in Marbella, Spain, chef Dani García earned his first Michelin star at the age of 25. In 2018, after receiving his third Michelin star for his namesake restaurant, the renowned chef announced its closure to focus on making Spanish cuisine more casual and accessible.

García, who admires Michelin greatly, is keenly aware of its limitations. "They taste like beginning and end," García told La Vangaurdia. Though he was elated to see his team relish in their success, it did little to change his perception that "there is no more after this." The Andalusian chef contemplated closure for several years due to a shift in his goals.

"I do not see myself replicating Michelin star restaurants; I don't imagine myself giving everything I got to have another restaurant with the highest score, at least in the next eight years," García said in the same interview. While it is unclear how much economic pressure contributed to his decision to close, the chef did allude to the dated model of 50 diners in a high-end setting and the frustrations of haute cuisine. He declared that his mission is to pursue sustainability and creativity.

Chef Michel Roux Jr. of London's Le Gavroche announced it would close its doors permanently in January 2024. Located in the posh Mayfair district, the closure of the two-Michelin-star-rated restaurant — which served as a launch pad for chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, and Monica Galetti – came as a shock.

"This decision has not been made lightly," Roux wrote in an August 2023 statement about the decades-old establishment. "I have always felt that should Le Gavroche ever close, it must be on a high. Le Gavroche continues to be fully booked, week in, week out, but I have known for a while that I must make time for a better work/life balance so I can spend more time with my family and on my other business ventures."

The closure was not indicative of the end of Le Gavrohce but rather a new chapter, as the chef hinted — in a later interview with The Guardian — at future pop-ups and the much anticipated "Le Gavroche residencies at sea" aboard the Queen Mary 2, which sails from the U.K. to Norway. The new venture will include breakfast, lunch, and dinner for travelers over their seven-night stay for £949 a person.

Located in the East Village of New York City — one of many within the city to earn a Michelin star — the 2-Michelin-star-rated restaurant founded by chef David Chang of "Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner" announced it would close in 2023 after 15 years in operation. The restaurant, which sparked a culinary revolution across the country and redefined the modern celebrity chef, was one of a handful of Chang's restaurants to close in the last several years.

Former employees told Grub Street that the environment at Momofuku Ko felt "tense" after Chang's Ssäm Bar shuttered. Chang — who opened Momofuku Ko in 2008 and has since built Momofuku into a global brand that includes packaged goods like chili crunch, Momofuku's famous wavy chili noodles, and hot honey — told employees of its closure during a staff meeting. "There's nothing the restaurant has done wrong," he reportedly said. "I think part of it is ending things on a high note." The chef-turned-media personality also revealed that he never intended to have a "fancy" restaurant. "I didn't open Momofuku to get glory or to have a sommelier — all these things we ended up having," he reportedly explained.

In a statement to Bon Appétit, Chang cited industry changes as a catalyst for his decision: "The culinary world is much different than it was 20 years ago." The closure is said to be part of the company's restructuring, as Momofuku Goods' growth has exploded in recent years. The company sells its beloved pantry items at Whole Foods Market and Target.

The New York City restaurant, Contra, announced it would be closing in 2023 ahead of its 10th anniversary. "Honestly, we've just reached a point where we needed a change," co-owner Fabián von Hauske-Valtierra told Eater.

When the European-inspired restaurant opened on the Lower East Side in 2013, chefs von Hauske-Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone intended to create an atmosphere that served interesting food at a fair price, representing a new style of restaurants in the city. "Our type of dining has died out so much — that mid-section of trying to be fine dining but trying to be a little more casual," von Hauske-Valtierra told the Robb Report. But chasing Michelin stars in the early days did little for the restaurant's sustainability. "It doesn't translate into a successful, sustainable business," said von Hauske-Valtierra. Though the pair intends to keep their downtown location and have since opened Bar Contra, an experimental cocktail bar with a limited food menu, the closure indicates the trend of chefs looking to reimagine their restaurants as more casual and accessible.

In October 2024, after two years and 1 Michelin star, the San Francisco-based restaurant lauded for its seafood menu announced it would close at the end of the year, leaving a void in the local dining scene. Citing difficult times in the restaurant industry, chef Peter Hemsley detailed Aphotic's culinary accomplishments in his heartfelt message on Instagram. "I believe in miracles — I have to as a chef and restaurant owner in these times. But I also know that miracles do not last forever," Hemsley wrote.

Aphotic received its Michelin star and Michelin Green star in 2023 and earned a reputation for fine dining with a 10-course tasting menu whose price increased following the rating. "People are still sticker-shocked," Hemsley told Eater. "I think it just has to do with the appetite for spending on restaurants. We've definitely seen a downtick in a more happy-go-lucky, free-wheeling kind of clientele. But my fundamental belief is I'm not going to start cutting quality as a way to roll back into profit." Hemsley also cited industry-wide issues — including the rising price of ingredients and labor as well as the restaurant's location — as challenges that led to his decision.

Glynn Purnell, owner and chef of his namesake restaurant in Birmingham, England, told the BBC he was "heartbroken" over the closure of his restaurant in 2024. The haunt opened its doors in 2007, became famous for its seafood, and earned a Michelin star in 2008. Though Purnell is proud of the restaurant's accomplishments – telling the BBC its run was a "roaring success" — the chef is not impervious to the struggles in the industry.

"Things have moved on, and times have changed. In this current climate, no one is bulletproof," he said. Citing a decrease in bookings over the last few years, the chef blamed the cost of parking, traffic, and Birmingham's clean air zone as contributors to a reduction in business. The chef — who trained with culinary legends like worldwide restauranteur Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes — still intends to continue cooking and pursuing his craft. However, he knows that younger diners may not be looking for the fine-dining experience that Purnell's offered, revealing to the BBC it "just [came] to a point where it's not sustainable for me to continue."

Adding to the loss, according to reporting from The Guardian, Purnell's closure left customers who had pre-purchased dining vouchers for hundreds of pounds scrambling after being told their vouchers could not be returned or redeemed. Purnell apologized for the problematic situation, but it left a bad taste in the mouths of excited diners, one in particular who purchased a voucher for friends and family totaling £750.

Known as one of Los Angeles' most expensive restaurants, Manzke, which opened in 2022 and won a Michelin star that same year, announced it would close in 2024. The restaurant, founded by culinary power couple Walter and Margarita Manzke, quickly rose to fame with its innovative fusion cuisine and impeccable service. The Manzkes, whose repertoire included some of LA's most lauded restaurants, did not provide details about the closure. However, in a statement given to Eater, the Manzkes cited the "careful consideration" to close as partly due to "financial losses."

Manzke, with its $225 tasting menu, incorporated diverse influences from Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Mexican cuisines. However, the restaurant's location in a busy area of Los Angeles, coupled with a limited number of tables, made it difficult to turn a profit. The area on Pico Boulevard where Manzke was located was so overrun with traffic that Walter was struck by a vehicle in a near-death accident in 2020 that left him hospitalized with a collapsed lung and several broken bones.

In a 2023 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Walter discussed his decision to close Petty Cash Taqueria, another of their restaurants. He cited increasing labor costs, expensive ingredients, and building upkeep as detriments to the business's success.

After 23 years in business, the closure of Locanda Locatelli, a beloved Italian restaurant in London's Marylebone, came as a shock in January 2025. Chef Giorgio Locatelli, a celebrity chef and star of the British show "Celeb Cooking School," posted a heartfelt thank you on Instagram for the patronage over the last two decades. "With a heavy heart, for reasons out of our control, we are now permanently closed. We will miss all of our clients, many who have become friends. But when one door closes, another opens, so please check our social media for updates on our new project," Locatelli wrote.

The restaurant earned its first Michelin Star in 2003 and has served A-list clientele like former president Bill Clinton, Kate Winslet, and Brad Pitt. Regarded as one of the best Italian restaurants in London, Locanda Locatelli almost closed in 2014 following a devastating gas explosion that damaged the building and staff members and cost £1 million in restoration. While the exact reason for this closure is unknown, in an interview with Reporter Gourmet, Locatelli cites industry-wide challenges as a contributor and a desire to consider life outside the kitchen. "Up to 10 years ago, it was normal to work 12 hours a day in the kitchen, I don't remember ever thinking it was too many hours," the chef said. Further, Locatelli acknowledged the high costs associated with operating a gourmet restaurant, which can diminish profit margins.

The chef also mentioned how industry staffing shortages affect a restaurant's longevity and the necessity for employers to offer fair wages, better hours, and an improved working environment overall. "A restaurant can take so much out of you that it can literally kill you," Locatelli told The Times. "Do you know how many people I know who have died in their restaurant? A lot."

Chef David Kinch's announcement of the closure of his three-Michelin-star-rated restaurant in 2022 sent ripples through the culinary world. The 20-year-old establishment, known for bringing seasonal ingredients into California fare, helped solidify San Francisco as a fine dining destination. However, after earning stars for six consecutive years, the closure did not surprise those in the know.

Echoing the sentiments of other chefs who closed their esteemed institutions, Kinch told The New York Times, "Fine dining is at a crossroads, and there have to be huge changes." The chef will continue to operate his more casual eats, such as Bywater and bakery Manresa Bread, but admitted that the "backbreaking" demands of fine dining were something he no longer wanted to subject to himself or his staff.

Kinch's decision to close Manresa was solely personal, unlike that of other restaurants that have closed due to financial distress. "I had a financially responsible business model," the chef said in an interview with Town & Country. "I paid my bills, I paid my people, and I made money." Manresa celebrated its run with a final blowout, offering a $725 tasting menu with "luxury additions at every turn," according to Eater.

Chef Mourad Lahlou announced he would close the doors of his San Francisco restaurant in October 2024. In 2015, the chef opened Mourad and earned a Michelin star that same year. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Mourad was stripped of its Michelin star, due to a decline in quality and low inspection ratings. "Overall, it sucks. It's very (politically correct) to say it's just another day, but it's not. It's really hard for everybody," Lahlou told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Having served diners for almost a decade, Laulou took to Instagram with great sadness to address the changes in the industry he believes perpetuated the loss of his namesake restaurant. "Despite the crippling effects of the pandemic on the hospitality industry, and our city in general, especially our area, we have worked harder than ever and managed, not just to save the restaurant, but even strive," he wrote. "Many challenges including a bitter dispute with city officials over the last year, details of which I will share when the time is appropriate, have forced us to close our doors and say goodbye for now.

Court documents obtained by The San Francisco Standard revealed the bitter dispute was over unpaid taxes, with the city suing the restaurant for $88,000. Lahlou could not settle the debt, adding to the string of restaurants burdened by the cost of operating.