"The 2025 Florida MICHELIN Guide Ceremony will be held in Orlando on April 17 at this resort, and the ceremony in Orlando will be invite-only. “We are excited to be back in Orlando to celebrate Florida’s culinary community and its many shining talents,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide, in a statement. This year Greater Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beaches, and St. Pete-Clearwater are new additions for award consideration, joining Greater Miami, Orlando, and Tampa; beginning in 2026, the selection will grow to cover all of Florida. The MICHELIN Guide is sponsored by the tourism boards of each state it covers in the U.S.: Visit Florida partnered with MICHELIN to produce the state’s guide, with Visit Florida originally paying MICHELIN $150,000 yearly for three years under a 2022 contract. In a renewal of the contract, Visit St. Pete-Clearwater will pay $90,000 per year to get the guide’s inspectors to visit and rank restaurants in the area, and MICHELIN will also be paid $150,000 for 2026, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Additionally, Visit Orlando has paid MICHELIN nearly $1,333,500 to publish guides from 2022 to 2026, as reported by Eater Miami contributor Faiyaz Kara, who got ahold of the contract. The guide uses up to a three-star rating system — one star: a “very good restaurant in its category,” two stars: “worthy of a detour,” and three stars: a “special journey” — and also awards Bib Gourmand status, an unstarred category given to high-caliber restaurants that serve a two-course meal for around $50 a person. Stars are not guaranteed, and MICHELIN inspectors are anonymous. All the winners will be listed on Eater Miami and the MICHELIN Guide app." - Henna Bakshi