Visit Milwaukee announced a partnership with the prestigious Michelin Guide on Wednesday morning, giving local restaurants the opportunity to be evaluated and earn a Michelin star.
"It’s going to make a lot of us a little bit more stressed," Gregory León said.
León, the chef and owner of Amilinda in downtown Milwaukee, has been nominated for a James Beard Award multiple times. He said he can handle the added stress of serving a Michelin-quality meal.
Watch: Local chefs and employees excited about Visit Milwaukee and Michelin Guide partnership
"You don’t have to be in a big metropolitan area like New York City, like DC, like San Francisco, to get a Michelin-style, or Michelin-quality meal," León said.
TMJ4 sat down with León just hours after the announcement to discuss what the partnership means for the community.
"This is going to definitely put it on the world stage," León said.
"Hopefully, this helps tourism. It’s going to bring more revenue for the city; in turn, it's going to help everyone who lives in the city," León added.
Dan Jacobs, owner of Dan Dan, agrees that the recognition will benefit the entire area.
"It doesn’t matter who gets a Michelin star; it’s going to make all of us look good. Everyone is going wanna come here because they wanna try this," Jacobs said.
Trinity Key moved to Milwaukee from the East Coast, specifically to work in the local food scene.
"The food scene here is amazing," Key said.
"Ever since I moved here, I always have known that the food is great, but it's better to know that it's exceptional," Key said.
The community will find out which restaurants, if any, receive the Michelin stamp of approval in 2027.
This story was written and reported on-air by Megan Lee and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
