'Super secret squirrel': Three Wellington chefs react to winning first Michelin stars in the capital
The head chef of one of Wellington’s newly Michelin-starred restaurants said the phone has been ringing off the hook with bookings since the announcement.
Three Wellington restaurants secured a Michelin star at last night’s prestigious awards ceremony, becoming the first to receive the honour in the capital.
Central Wellington establishments Jano Bistro, Ortega Fish Shack and Logan Brown were three out of the 14 restaurants across Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown to win a star.
Essence in Queenstown was the only restaurant in the country to be awarded two Michelin stars.
The Michelin Guide recognised New Zealand's top restaurants on June 30, 2026.
The Herald spoke to Jano Bistro head chef Pierre-Alain Fenoux about the “overwhelming” response to his restaurant’s first star.
“It’s a big achievement, I’m super proud of the team, the restaurant, everything we’ve done the past 12 years.”
He said the past 12 hours had been “crazy” with his phone constantly ringing.
The French-inspired fine dining restaurant found itself booked out for the next three weeks, with requests flying in from all over the world for as far out as November.
The award felt validating to Fenoux, who had worked in Michelin-starred restaurants before moving to New Zealand 16 years ago, when the Michelin Guide did not yet exist here.
He co-founded Jano Bistro with his partner Diana Goh and opened it in a heritage cottage on Willis St in 2014.
While the Michelin judging process was famously secretive, Fenoux felt certain a Michelin inspector had visited the restaurant at least twice and ordered the tasting menu.
Now his restaurant had a star, he did not plan to put the award plaque up or make social media posts until next week.
“We’re just going to let it sink in and do what we do, and try to feel comfortable about this new pressure.
“The food is the same from yesterday to today but now we’ve got something to prove.”
Ortega Fish Shack is a bistro on Majoribanks St that is renowned for its seafood offerings.
Chef Mark Limacher from Ortega Fish Shack said his staff were “absolutely beaming” this morning after news of winning the star spread.
“I still feel quite incredulous about the whole thing,” he told Newstalk ZB’s Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills this morning.
“In my mind we’re this Kiwi casual joint that I don’t associate with this sort of recognition.”
Ortega Fish Shack was renowned for its seafood offerings and steak, which it served with a popular Cafe de Paris butter, a compound butter recipe that originated from a famous cafe in Geneva where Limacher lived near.
He said he looked forward to peak tourist season, when a certain “cadre of tourists” who carried the Michelin Guide around “like a Bible” would descend on Wellington.
“They plan their trips around where they are going to dine at,” he said.
“Those people spend heaps and heaps of money doing it, this is exactly what we need.”
Logan Brown owner Steve Logan, standing outside the entrance to his Cuba St restaurant.
Co-founder of Logan Brown, Steve Logan, said he had an “inkling” it would win a star, despite the ordeal being “super secret squirrel”.
He was one of the chefs invited to cook for 300 people at the cocktail function launch for the guide in Auckland’s International Convention Centre.
Logan told Mills the ceremony was “quite formal” and “very special”.
His restaurant had been open for 30 years and had only made a “good profit” a quarter of that time.
The rest of the time, it broke even or lost money.
The Michelin stars would help add “a spring in the step” of his team, as the hospitality sector went through “difficult times”.
“Wellington is a bit downtrodden and I think this gives us a bit of a lift,” he said.
“To get a star like that, it reaffirms what we’re doing still after 30 years.”
Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.
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