The Michelin guide lands in Saudi Arabia: here are the 'starred' Italian chefs
Announced to debut in 2026, discovering the gastronomic offerings of a country that also wants to surprise the West in this field with its 22,000 restaurants (doubled in five years)
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Key points
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One hundred and twenty-five years of history, and still the Michelin Guide manages to amaze. In 2026, it will officially land in Saudi Arabia for the first time, inaugurating an entirely new selection that promises to change the face of Middle Eastern gastronomy.
The debut could not have been better timed, with the world watching Saudi Arabia more and more closely, and now Michelin is extending its hand: it is formal recognition of a culinary ferment that has been moving under the radar for some time, but is now increasingly evident.
The famous anonymous inspectors have already been busy for months between Riyadh and Jeddah, looking for those restaurants that do not just serve food, but tell stories. But the investigation does not stop there: Khobar, AlUla, and the coastal regions along the famous new tourist destination, Red Sea, are already on the radar of a selection destined to grow over the years.
Local restaurants, international chefs (and many Italians)
.According to official figures from the Saudi Ministry of Tourism, the country now has over 22 thousand restaurants, a figure that has more than doubled in the last five years. But it is not just a question of quantity. What stands out is the incredible leap in quality. There are about 1,500 establishments considered to be of medium-high quality, of which a growing number have international ambitions: kitchens run by chefs trained in Paris, Tokyo and New York, who today reinterpret Saudi roots in a contemporary key, mixing creativity and identity with surprising maturity.
Among the Italians worth mentioning is chef Alex Simone who has opened Baretto inside the Kfda complex, or rather the King Abdullah Financial District, the ambitious financial and urban district located in Riyadh's al Aqeeq district. But he also signs the menu for Dolce e Gabbana's bistrot.
Also flying the Italian flag in Saudi Arabia is Cipriani, with chef Stefano Mason in the lively Hittin district, or the maitre Marco Liberati who manages the restaurant Nikkei Kuuru Riyadh, also in the Kfda; or Luigi Battista, ceo and general manager of the Leylaty Group, which manages Kuuru Riyadh and the Jeddah office. The Saudi group has also announced that it will soon open an office in Europe, probably in Milan.
