John Chef's Hall and Max Cekot Kitchen keep their Michelin stars

RIGA - The Michelin Guide 2026 features 34 Latvian restaurants, including three new restaurants, as well as the restaurants John Chef's Hall and Max Cekot Kitchen, which have retained one star each, Michelin Guide representatives informed LETA.

Of the restaurants in the latest guide, 27 are in Riga and seven in other parts of Latvia.

Last year's winners Snatch, Shoyu and Milda have kept their Bib Gourmand Awards, which are given to restaurants that offer great food at an affordable price. They are joined by SMOR Bistro and H.E. Vanadzins.

The latest Michelin Selected Restaurants guide includes three new restaurants - SMOR Bistro, as well as The Catch and Masa in Riga, which for the first time are featured in the guide's main selection.

The Michelin Selected Restaurants guide continues to include Entresol, Chef's Corner, COD, 3 Pavari, B7, Akustika, Mo, Pavaru maja and Tauro, Kest, Lowine, Stage 22, Ferma, Barents Cocktails & Seafood, Neiburgs, Tails, Zoltners, Barents, Seasons, John, Babo, Whitehouse, Riviera, Le Dome and 36.linija".

At the same time, the special Opening of the Year Award was presented to Kaspars Barsukovs at SMOR Bistro, the Young Chef Award to Timofejs Monahovs at Seasons, the Service Award to Sergejs Siporovs and the team at The Catch, and the Sommelier Award to Ivars Kalnins at Riviera.

As reported, 31 Latvian restaurants were included in the Michelin Guide last October, with John Chef's Hall winning its first star and Max Cekot Kitchen also keeping its star.

The the restaurant Pavaru Maja retained its Michelin Green Star or sustainability award.

Five new restaurants - B7, Babo, Lowine, Seasons and Stage 22 - were added to the Michelin Selected Restaurants guide.

Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants that offer exceptional food, based on five criteria: quality of ingredients, harmony of flavors, technical mastery, the personality of the chef as expressed in his cuisine, and consistency throughout the menu and over time.

Michelin stars are awarded for one year, after which the jury revisits the restaurant. Restaurants can sometimes lose their stars.

One Michelin Star means "high-quality cooking - worth a stop", two Michelin starts mean "excellent cooking - worth a detour", and three Michelin stars "exceptional cuisine - worth a special journey".

According to information from Firmas.lv, A22hotel, the manager of the A22 Hotel and the John Chef's Hall restaurant, was registered in 2018 with a share capital of EUR 2,800. The company is wholly owned by Maksims Kusnarenko. In 2024, the company had a turnover of EUR 1.331 million and a loss of EUR 75,680.

Max Cekot Kitchen is managed by Max Cekot Group, which is owned by Maksims Cekots (55 percent) and Natalja Golubova (45 percent). The company had a turnover of EUR 1.219 million and a profit of EUR 104,780 last year, according to Firmas.lv. Max Cekot Group was registered in 2018 with a share capital of EUR 2,760.