{"id":94007,"date":"2026-10-18T17:25:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94007"},"modified":"2026-10-18T17:25:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:25:05","slug":"with-michelins-green-star-gone-hong-kong-seeks-to-redefine-sustainable-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94007","title":{"rendered":"With Michelin\u2019s Green Star gone, Hong Kong seeks to redefine sustainable dining"},"content":{"rendered":"


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David Toutain witnessed the birth of the Michelin Green Star in 2020. His eponymous restaurant in Paris was among the first to be awarded while Feuille, his Hong Kong outpost<\/span>, secured one within a year of its 2023 opening. But even when Michelin quietly retired the award this year, he still never understood exactly how it was assessed. \u201cI have no idea,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know the rules. I don\u2019t know anything about it, to be very honest.\u201d<\/div>\n

His confusion points to a larger problem. The Green Star was meant to recognise restaurants that, in Michelin\u2019s own words, \u201chold themselves accountable for both their ethical and environmental standards\u201d. It was a noble ambition, but an opaque one \u2013 Michelin never made public what its inspectors had in their notebooks. With the award now gone, an unanswered question lingers: what does it mean for a restaurant to be \u201csustainable\u201d?<\/p>\n

True to form, Michelin offered no debrief to chefs when it announced it was phasing out the Green Star and replacing it with an editorial platform called Mindful Voices. It only said the award was \u201climited to gastronomy\u201d and referenced an unspecified strategic pivot.<\/p>\n

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Chef David Toutain of Feuille in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But before blaming Michelin for retreating, consider what it was up against. Amid a broader cooling of ESG enthusiasm, the EU\u2019s new anti-greenwashing rules took effect on September 27. The Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive requires that sustainability labels be independently verified and open to all companies, a standard the Green Star\u2019s self-reported process could never meet. In this climate, an unverifiable green badge would no longer be an asset. It would be a liability.<\/p>\n

Certifying sustainability in dining<\/span> is not like awarding stars for what\u2019s on the table; it requires examining energy use, waste systems, labour practices and supply chains extending miles beyond the kitchen. Its inspectors were restaurant critics, not environmental assessors.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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