Kosher spot in North Miami, upscale Cuban restaurant in WPB earn Michelin stars

Two South Florida restaurants — a kosher restaurant in a North Miami strip mall and a 16-seat counter in West Palm Beach that aims to reimagine classic Cuban cuisine as fine dining — earned Michelin stars on Thursday.

Mutra, an Israeli spot on 123rd Street from Israeli-born chef and owner Raz Shabtai, a veteran of kitchens from Tel Aviv and New York, was the surprising (yet deserving) choice for Miami-Dade’s only new Michelin star. It’s the only kosher restaurant in the world to earn a star from the internationally famous guide.

The restaurant, which opened in February 2025 and is closed on Fridays and Saturdays in honor of the Sabbath, reinvents classic kosher cuisine with rich flavors and a fierce farm-to-table mentality. The service is attentive and friendly, especially at the lively counter seating where the other guests encourage you to try, well, everything you can get your hands on.

Shabtai doesn’t view cooking kosher as an obstacle to great cuisine.

“A cook thinks: How can I break the boundaries? How do I turn it into something beautiful when I can’t cook it the usual way?” he told the Miami Herald last year. “Cooking kosher, you need to explore, and you learn a lot.”

Also earning its first star was Emelina in West Palm Beach, the brainchild of restaurateur Alvaro Perez Miranda and Cuban-born chef Osmel Gonzalez and his wife Camila Salazar. It opened earlier this year.

Both Gonzalez and Perez Miranda have previous Michelin experience: Gonzalez was chef and co-founder of the Michelin-starred EntreNos, which closed in 2025, while Perez Miranda is the owner of the Japanese omakase spot Ogawa in Little River (he also owns two other Japanese concepts, Hiyakawa and Midorie).

Gonzalez doesn’t look at his menu as a reinvention but an extension of the cuisine he grew up with in Havana.

“The food hasn’t been able to evolve, because Cubans were never able to travel or study abroad, to taste other countries’ food and have freedom to bring those influences back to our own country,” he told the Miami Herald earlier this year. “So here, we are using familiar flavors in more modern ways. We’re not trying to reinvent Cuban food — we just use flavors we know.”

Michelin expands across Florida

This was the first year the Michelin Guide has expanded to include all of Florida, which didn’t translate into many stars, though many restaurants around the state were added to the guide’s Recommended list, including Bistro Ocho in Little Havana; Eylu Omakase in Coral Gables and Mano Libera in Miami.

Several local restaurants were also named as Bib Gourmands, a designation that indicates great food served at more budget-friendly prices: the Peruvian spot Barra Callao in North Miami; Ecuadorian restaurant Cotoa, which was upgraded from last year’s designation as a Recommended restaurant; the funky Double Luck Chinese restaurant on 79th Street Causeway and To Be Determined, both in Miami. Also making the Bib Gourmand list is Moondog Cafe & Bakery in Key West.

The Michelin Guide first arrived in Florida in 2022, targeting Miami, Orlando and Tampa and bestowing stars on 11 Miami restaurants. At least one Miami restaurant has earned a star each year since, although last year’s winner Itamae Ao closed several months later.

Last year, the guide added Fort Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches and offered stars to the Chef’s Counter at MAASS at the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale and Konro in West Palm Beach. Konro was stripped of its star after its chef was charged with domestic battery and closed; Emelina has opened in its former location.

All 13 Michelin-starred Miami restaurants retained their stars: Ariete in Coconut Grove; Boia De in Little River; Cote in the Design District; Elcielo in Miami; Hiden in Wynwood; Le Jardinier in the Design District; Los Felix in Coconut Grove; Ogawa in Little River; Shingo in Coral Gables; Stubborn Seed in Miami Beach; Tambourine Room by Tristan Brandt in Miami Beach; The Surf Club Restaurant in Surfside and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in the Design District, Miami’s only two-star restaurant

All of the previous Bib Gourmands in Miami-Dade retained their distinction: Bachour; Chug’s Diner; El Turco; Ghee Indian Kitchen; Hometown BBQ; La Natural; Lucali; Mandolin Aegean Bistro; Michael’s Genuine; Phuc Yea; Sanguich; Tam Tam; Tinta y Cafe; and Zitz Sum.

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 3:17 PM.