{"id":75666,"date":"2026-08-11T14:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T06:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=75666"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T06:12:00","slug":"disappointing-regret-michelin-retires-green-star-accolade-sparking-mixed-reactions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=75666","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Disappointing\u2019, \u2018regret\u2019: Michelin retires Green Star accolade, sparking mixed reactions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The fine-dining restaurant had two Michelin stars at that point and, over the previous 16 years, had become one of the leading lights for sustainability in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cWe got so many messages \u2026 asking why Amber didn\u2019t get the Green Star. I could only reply, \u2018Well, I have no idea,\u2019\u201d says Richard Ekkebus, the hotel\u2019s culinary director, who has helmed the hotel\u2019s flagship restaurant since day one. \u201cSustainability is part of the DNA we\u2019ve grown over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">He adds that many of the initiatives they pioneered \u2013 such as phasing out plastic bottles for glass and setting up an in-house water filtration system back in 2017 \u2013 were subsequently adopted across the Mandarin Oriental\u2019s global network.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Ekkebus realised the restaurant and hotel needed to better communicate their sustainability efforts. As a result, his team put together a document to record the restaurant\u2019s three sustainability pillars: social, sourcing and natural resources. With everything spelled out, Amber gained a Green Star the following year, joining <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Roganic<\/span>, the sole Hong Kong restaurant awarded a Green Star in 2021.<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-d3pq8q e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Amber works with the regenerative organic farming co-op Farmhouse Productions in Hong Kong\u2019s New Territories. Photo: Amber\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/08\/10\/ddbed1ec-ad1e-4ff1-9e05-c232d8c0c032_be1c0bb6.jpg\" title=\"Amber works with the regenerative organic farming co-op Farmhouse Productions in Hong Kong\u2019s New Territories. Photo: Amber\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Amber works with the regenerative organic farming co-op Farmhouse Productions in Hong Kong\u2019s New Territories. Photo: Amber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 type=\"h3\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"eh0yk8h0 css-17x7qa9 e1pqa4re1\">Dropping the Green Star for Mindful Voices<\/h3>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">How exactly Michelin audits for sustainability has remained shrouded in mystery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/food-drink\/article\/3363267\/disappointing-regret-michelin-retires-green-star-accolade-sparking-mixed-reactions?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fine-dining restaurant had two Michelin stars at that point and, over the previous 16 years, had become one of the leading lights for sustainability&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[28029,118,2502,475,13378,1042,4646,212,9554,297],"class_list":["post-75666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-accolade","tag-disappointing","tag-green","tag-michelin","tag-mixed","tag-reactions","tag-regret","tag-retires","tag-sparking","tag-star","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/75667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}