Shining Stars – The Lady Chefs of Michelin France

You’ll hear many French chefs mention that it was the influence of a matriarch in their family, who inspired them to pursue a career in the culinary arts. So when the conversation comes up on who are the best French chefs, you’d expect perhaps to hear the names of amazing women chefs dropped in between sips of wine. But alas, not so much. If so many women have been prompting male chefs to tie on their aprons, where are all the ladies at?

The Guide Michelin has been criticized in the past for its lack of representation of women chefs. But their response has been that they can’t do anything about the fact that women are not leading the best restaurants. But in what looks very much like a boy’s club, there are some French “cheffes” to take note of if you are into Michelin, of course, because we all know that there are many great female chefs and cooks out there whose cuisine transports us to some amazing places.

In 2020 there were 33 women chefs in the Michelin guide. In 2022, chef Hélène Darroze, joined the very tight circle of women chefs with an awarding of 3 stars which she received for her London-based restaurant at The Connaught in Mayfair. In total across her restaurants, she has accumulated 5 stars and places after Anne-Sophie Pic who has a total of 9! Now that the 2023 list has been revealed we can see that women remain with little representation on the list, of 44 restaurants being awarded their first stars, only one woman who works alone was awarded a star: Geordiana Viou for her mediterranean plates in Nîmes. There are however, couples who have been awarded recognition such as at Rozó where pastry chef Camille is joined by her husband Diego Delbeq. A spokesperson for the Michelin Guide has stated that there is no discrimination or quota but simply the judgement is made to reflect upon the quality of each establishment…

Here’s the rundown of France’s Michelin-starred women chefs:

3-stars ✨✨✨

Anne-Sophie Pic – Pic, Valence

Hélène Darroze, Marsan – Paris 6ème

2-stars ✨✨

Stéphanie Le Quellec, La Scène – Paris 8ème

1-star ✨

Geordina Viou, ROUGE – Nîmes

Tabata Mey, Les Apothicaires – Lyon
Nolwenn Corre, Hostellerie de la Pointe St Mathieu – Plougonvelin
Virginie Giboire, Racine – Rennes
Laetitia Cosnier, Côté Cuisine – Carnac
Fumiko Maubert, Assa – Blois
Lydia Egloff, La Bonne Auberge – Forbach
Adeline Grattard, Yam’Tcha – Paris 1er
Fabienne Eymard, Benoit – Paris 4ème
Julia Sedefdjian, Baieta –  Paris 5ème (she was also, in 2019, the youngest Michelin-starred chef in France at Les Fables de la Fontaines)
Kwen Liew, Pertinence – Paris 7ème
Chiho Kanzaki, Virtus – Paris 12ème
Naoëlle d’Hainaut, L’Or Q’Idée – Pontoise
Anne Legrand, L’Innocence – Paris 9ème
Clio Modaffari, L’Innocence – Paris 9ème
Kelly Rangama, Le Faham by Kelly Rangama – Paris 17ème
Mi-Ra Kim, L’Essentiel – Deauville
Andrée Rosier, Les Rosiers – Biarritz
Flora Le Pape, Choko Ona – Espelette
Claire Vallée, ONA – Arès (The first vegan restaurant to ever get a Michelin star!!)
Amélie Darvas, Äponem – Vailhan
Nicole Fagegaltier, Le Restaurant du Vieux Pont –  Belcastel
Virginie Basselot, Le Chantecler, (hôtel Le Negresco) – Nice
Nadia Sammut et Reine Sammut, auberge La Fenière – Lourmarin
Fanny Rey, auberge La Reine Jeanne –  Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Eugénie Béziat, La Flibuste-Martin’s – Villeneuve-Loubet
Coline Faulquier, Signature – Marseille

Let’s Talk Desserts:

And let’s not forget the women who are subliming us with their delectable desserts in Michelin-starred restaurants in France:

3-star ✨✨✨

Jessica Préalpato, meet jessica prealpato – Paris 8ème

1-star ✨

Ayumi Sugiyama-Shinjo (with Romain Mahi), Accents –  Paris 2ème
Camille Pailleau (with Diego Delbecq, chef cuisinier), Rozó – Lille
Karina Laval (chef pâtissière with Franco Bowanee, chef cuisinier), Château de Vault de Lugny –  Vault-de-Lugny
Jessica Yang (chef pâtissière with Robert Compagnon, chef cuisinier), Rigmarole –  Paris 11ème
Émilie Rey (chef pâtissière with Édouard Mignot, chef cuisinier), Ed.Em – Chassagne-Montrachet (The Michelin guide did not note her name but they should have)
Agathe Richou (chef pâtissière with Camille Lacome, chef cuisinier), La Mère Germaine – Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Juliette Busetto (chef pâtissière with Samuel Victori, chef cuisinier), Les Agitateurs – Nice