At this point can seem strange that someone hasn’t ever heard of Michelin stars. However, in this blog entry Driver in Mendoza we will make a brief recap for those who do not know anything about this award.

Quickly, what are the first criteria that come to mind when planning a trip? Among those ideas surely appears the hotel or type of accommodation that we want, the main tourist spots that we want to know and surely on that list there are also recommended restaurants to complete a complete tourist experience with gastronomy. Nothing like resting from intense days to full private wine tour in Mendoza, entertaining your palate with a range of flavors of local cuisine highlighted by the Michelin Guide.

The so-called Michelin stars refer to an award or gastronomic distinction granted by the prestigious and international Michelin Guide. This guide, which began to be published at the beginning of the 20th century with the popularization of automobiles, emerged with the aim of providing information to travelers about places of interest such as: places to eat, hotels to sleep, gas stations and other points important for those who travel long distances on roads. Over the years the Michelin Guide only began to review and award stars to high-class restaurants, since then getting at least one Michelin star has become the dream and ultimate goal of all chefs in the world.

The restaurants worthy of receiving this award are selected according to five criteria: product quality, consistency, price / quality ratio, creativity and doneness. In the case of the eighth capital of wine, Mendoza, the three awarded restaurants belong to wineries. Meet the three Mendoza restaurants worthy of this award:

1.Ruca Malen

In the winery founded in 1998 by Jean Pierre Thibaud and Jacques Luis de Montalembert there is a restaurant space run by chefs Lucas Bustos and Juan Tomás Ventureira. Ruca Malen was added to the Michelin Guide in 2018. Year in which the French publication referred to it as follows: ‘Of the winery restaurants, this is of excellent quality by offering the ideal combination of local products and the best wines in the region ‘.

2.Espacio Trapiche

The Trapiche Winery restaurant was added to those recommended by the Michelin Guide in 2018. Regarding the restaurant, he referred to Espacio Trapiche as’ a contemporary-style place, surrounded by an organic garden, the imposing Florentine-style winery originally built in 1912 ‘. Critics were undoubtedly captivated by the combination of its wines with local dishes in an environment that knows how to combine the best of a classic style with a completely contemporary one. As in the case of Ruca Malen, the prestigious chef Lucas Bustos also intervenes in this kitchen.

3.Casa Vigil

The last restaurant to be included in the Guide was Alejandro Vigil’s restaurant at Aleanna winery, an undertaking that he shares with Adriana Catena. Casa Vigil is located in the Chachingo area in Maipú, 25 km from the City of Mendoza. It is a restaurant where the main protagonist is the wine from El Enemigo, it is also characterized by making use of products from its own garden and other local products that seek to generate a triple impact by collaborating with local economies. The chef in charge of the gastronomic venture is Santiago Mestre, who describes the kitchen of the premises as “simple and with top-quality products.”