From the garden to the Star: the "Michelin" effect in the agricultural sector of Mendoza

High cuisine has raised the demands on agriculture and turned local producers into the protagonists of Argentina's most exclusive and award-winning dishes: "they stop being simply those who supply us to become part of the creative process.”

When a diner pays thousands of pesos for a tasting menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant, they usually focus on the chef's creativity, technique, or presentation. However, behind each dish lies a production chain that begins long before the food reaches the kitchen and that in Mendoza has undergone a profound transformation in recent years. Just a few days ago, the Michelin Guide announced the award-winning restaurants for 2026, where the province of Cuyo stood out with nine of the 13 restaurants awarded a Star (the other four are located in Buenos Aires, along with Aramburu, the only one with two), thus demonstrating the high level of the province. In Cuyo lands, the arrival of the Michelin Guide accelerated a process that was already simmering slowly due to enotourism: agroecological producers, lamb, goat, rabbit, and duck breeders, preserves, oils, cheeses, and honey makers, just to name a few, began to adapt to the demands of a cuisine that requires quality, homogeneity, ...