The Green Michelin Star Explained

Updated 5 October 2026 · Star counts and prices checked October 2026

A green Michelin star was the MICHELIN Guide’s award for restaurants leading the way on sustainability, shown as a green star next to their listing. Unlike the red stars, it judged how a restaurant works rather than how it cooks. In May 2026 Michelin announced that the Green Star is being phased out.

That makes this an explainer about an award in its final months. Below we cover what the Michelin Green Star recognised, when it began, why Michelin is ending it and what replaces it, and which restaurants carried it in the last full round of awards in Great Britain and Ireland.

What the Green Star recognised

The Green Star picked out restaurants at the forefront of sustainable gastronomy. According to the MICHELIN Guide, inspectors looked at:

• where ingredients come from, and how much of the menu follows the seasons;
• the restaurant’s overall environmental footprint;
• how it handles food waste, general waste and recycling;
• how carefully it manages resources across the business;
• how the team talks to guests about its approach.

There was no checklist or score to hit. Michelin said every restaurant and region has its own conditions, so inspectors were looking for places at the top of their game on sustainability, whatever form that took: a kitchen garden supplying most of the vegetables, a whole-animal butchery programme, a farm-to-table set-up in a remote valley. Any restaurant in the Guide could earn one, whether it held red stars, a Bib Gourmand or neither.

When the Green Star started

Michelin first revealed the Green Star in 2020, in the French guide, and rolled it out across many of its 2021 editions around the world. Our history of the Michelin star puts it alongside the other milestones, from the first stars in 1926 to the Bib Gourmand in 1997.

Why the Michelin Green Star is ending

On 18 May 2026 Michelin announced Mindful Voices, a new editorial platform profiling chefs, hoteliers and wine producers who are “pioneering new approaches” in their fields. At the same time it said the Michelin Green Star, which was limited to restaurants, would be gradually phased out.

The difference is one of focus. The Green Star was an award for a place, shown as a symbol in the Guide. Mindful Voices tells the stories of people, across restaurants, hotels and vineyards, online and in print rather than as a rating. Michelin launched it at the Nordic Countries ceremony in Copenhagen on 1 June 2026, with the roll-out continuing across Europe and then worldwide through 2026.

In practice, that means fewer guides will show Green Stars as each one publishes its next edition. Michelin hasn’t given a single end date, so a restaurant may still show one on its Guide page for a while. Check the restaurant’s page on the MICHELIN Guide for its current status.

Can a restaurant hold a red star and a Green Star?

Yes. The two awards measured different things and sat side by side. Red stars judge only the cooking, on the same five criteria everywhere; the Green Star judged sustainable practice. A restaurant could hold three red stars and a Green Star, a Green Star alone, or red stars without one. Several of Britain’s most celebrated kitchens held both, including L’Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton, both with three red stars. For how stars and Bib Gourmands compare, see Bib Gourmand vs Michelin star.

Green Star restaurants in the last full selection

The MICHELIN Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2026, published in February 2026, was the last edition there before the phase-out was announced. It listed 37 Green Star restaurants, seven of them new. These twelve show the range, from three-star dining rooms to restaurants with no red star at all:

Green Stars from the MICHELIN Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2026 (February 2026). Red stars as listed on The Starred Bill; locations link to our prices for that area. Last checked October 2026.

London had three Green Star restaurants in that list: Apricity, Petersham Nurseries Café and Restaurant St. Barts. Our London page lists every starred restaurant in the city with its prices, and the Glasgow page does the same for Scotland’s largest city.