--- title: Australia Now Has Michelin-Starred Restaurants, and All 11 Are in South Australia description: Michelin's first Australian guide gives Magill Estate two stars and ten more South Australian restaurants one star each. Here is where they are. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-10-15T13:35:20.979Z updated: 2026-10-15T13:35:20.988Z canonical: https://richtravelmagazine.com/article/does-australia-have-michelin-star-restaurants image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/magill-estate-dining-room-michelin-439044.webp categories: Food & Culture content_type: News region: Australia publication: Rich Travel Magazine schema_type: Article --- Australia has Michelin-starred restaurants for the first time. At a ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Wednesday evening, Michelin gave two stars to Magill Estate Restaurant in the Adelaide foothills and one star each to ten more restaurants in Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa Valley, the Clare Valley and McLaren Vale. All of them are in South Australia, because Michelin's first Australian restaurant guide covers that state alone. The Michelin Guide South Australia 2027 lists 77 venues: the 11 starred restaurants, 16 Bib Gourmands and 50 restaurants listed as Michelin Selected. Its inspectors had been eating at South Australian restaurants undercover for at least 12 months before the list was announced. Gwendal Poullennec, the Michelin Guide's international director, said the inspectors found European, Southeast Asian and Japanese cooking sitting alongside "native ingredients such as quandong, lemon myrtle and native Australian meats, never as novelty, but as an honest expression of place." He said cooking over fire runs through the whole selection, from Adelaide's dining rooms to the winery restaurants. ## Magill Estate Restaurant Is the Only Two-Star Restaurant in Australia Magill Estate Restaurant sits among 12 acres of Penfolds vineyards at 78 Penfold Road in Rosslyn Park, on the site where the winery was founded in 1844, about 15 minutes by car from Adelaide's city centre. Scott Huggins runs a degustation menu that changes almost daily, depending on what his suppliers have in stock and which wines are ready to drink. Scott, who was born in Melbourne, cooked at Magill Estate for nine years before he took over the restaurant's management and lease from Penfolds in April 2022. At the ceremony he said he had once looked abroad for a star: "We looked at opening restaurants in France to achieve a Michelin star." ## Four of the One-Star Restaurants Are in Adelaide and Its Inner Suburbs Botanic and Aurora at ILA are in the city itself. In Norwood, Jake Kellie, the former head chef of Michelin-starred Burnt Ends in Singapore, cooks over open fire at arkhé. In Hackney, Alanna Sapwell's Esmay occupies the historic Hackney Hotel, after starting life as a pop-up that toured the country. ## The Other Six Stars Went to the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa, the Clare Valley and McLaren Vale Anvers, in Kangarilla, was the first restaurant named on the night, and Connor Bishop collected the first Michelin star awarded in Australia. The Adelaide Hills have two more: LVN Restaurant at Bird in Hand in Woodside, and Aptos in Stirling, which Justin James opened in May. Aptos takes 14 diners a service and moves them through a series of dining rooms over more than three hours. Justin, who is from the US, likened winning the star to the Super Bowl and the Oscars. Further out, Hentley Farm at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley, Skillogalee Barrel House at Sevenhill in the Clare Valley and Maxwell Restaurant in McLaren Vale each won one star. ## Most of the 16 Bib Gourmands Are in Adelaide Most of the 16 Bib Gourmands are in Adelaide, among them Africola, which serves South African food, Parwana Afghan Kitchen, Bar Torino for Italian, Bistro Francais for French, Golden Boy for Thai and Gondola Gondola for Southeast Asian. Outside the city, Fino Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley, The Salopian Inn in McLaren Vale and Tirage on Kangaroo Island are on the list. ## Melissa Pisanelli, Shakaan Abillion and Maxime Martin Won Michelin's Staff Awards Melissa Pisanelli of Allegra Dining Room won the service award, Shakaan Abillion of Shobosho the young chef award and Maxime Martin of Hardy's Verandah the sommelier award. ## The South Australian Government Paid Michelin an Undisclosed Sum to Bring the Guide The guide is in South Australia rather than Sydney or Melbourne because the state government struck a commercial deal with Michelin. Tourism Minister Emily Bourke announced it in May as a joint venture between the state's tourism commission and Michelin, and the government has said the price is confidential for commercial reasons. Bourke said the guide would put the state's food in front of the 63 million people a year who she said use Michelin's website. Forbes Australia reported that Tourism Australia had turned down a national proposal from Michelin less than two years earlier. InDaily has reported that Tourism New Zealand also paid to bring the guide to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. Michelin's first New Zealand selection, published on 30 June 2026, starred 15 restaurants among 110 recognised. The restaurants did not pay to be included and could not nominate themselves, and Michelin's inspectors dine anonymously and pay their own bills. Australia's best-known restaurant ratings are the Good Food Guide's hats, which The Age launched in 1979. South Australia lost national Good Food Guide coverage during the pandemic, when that guide was cut back to New South Wales and Victoria. ## Michelin's International Director Wants to Expand the Guide in Australia Gwendal has said he wants to take the guide further in Australia, and Alanna, at Esmay, said she would like to see it spread across the country. The full South Australia 2027 selection, including all 50 Selected restaurants, is searchable on the Michelin Guide website and app. ## FAQ **Q: What is a bib gourmand award?** A Bib Gourmand is Michelin's award for restaurants serving good food at good value, at more accessible prices than most starred dining rooms. **Q: What does michelin selected mean?** A Michelin Selected restaurant is in the guide but has neither a star nor a Bib Gourmand. South Australia has 50, which is most of its 77-venue selection. All three restaurants whose staff won Michelin's individual awards this year, Allegra Dining Room, Shobosho and Hardy's Verandah, are Selected venues. **Q: Difference between michelin star and bib gourmand?** Michelin's stars rate the cooking alone. One star means a restaurant is worth a stop, two stars worth a detour and three stars worth a special journey, and no South Australian restaurant received three. A Bib Gourmand is a separate award, not a star level.