Michelin Guide Shines a Spotlight on Cambridge Restaurants for the First Time

Eight Cambridge restaurants made the list when the Michelin Guide published its inaugural directory of recommended Boston establishments on Tuesday last week.

Three of the restaurants in Cambridge — Jahunger, which serves Uyghur cuisine in Cambridgeport; Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, a Hunanese restaurant; and Pagu, a Spanish-Japanese tapas place near MIT — earned the Bib Gourmand designation, which indicates “restaurants offering excellent value for the quality of their cooking,” according to the Michelin Guide.

“It’s a very humble moment. You feel like everything that you did is just worth it,” Jahunger’s owner, Subat Dilmurat, said in an interview with The Crimson. “The time we took each dish, and the time we took to build our business, and do the right thing everyday — it just came to a very happy result.”

Sumiao Chen — the owner of Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, which opened in Kendall Square in 2017 — said she remembers being among the first restaurants in Boston to serve Hunanese cuisine.

“I always dreamed of having a restaurant where I could introduce my hometown cuisine to my colleagues and friends in Cambridge,” said Chen, a trained doctor and pharmaceutical researcher who has now spent more than a decade in the restaurant business.

The recognition from the Michelin Guide “validates our long-term commitment and shows that authentic regional Chinese cuisine deserves recognition on the global cuisine stage,” she said.

Both Chen and Dilmurat emphasized that the Michelin Guide, unlike other culinary awards that focus on individual chefs, is an honor for restaurants’ entire staffs.

“So many Boston restaurants are working so hard,” Chen said. “Being included for the first time feels like a great encouragement for all of us.”

Dilmurat said many of his 55 employees began as dishwashers and worked their way up to the kitchen.

“There are many, many, many people who started as a dishwasher, and next thing you know, they’re cooking in a Michelin restaurant,” he said. “They’re very proud of that.”

Five other Cambridge restaurants — Oleana, Pammy’s, Moeca, Giulia, and Urban Hearth — were given Recommended status on the Michelin Guide.

The guide’s expansion to Boston comes as part of a three-year partnership with Boston’s regional tourism bureau — which cost around $1 million, a Boston Globe columnist reported in May. In total, the guide recommended 26 establishments in the Boston area — 311 Omakase received one Michelin star, the highest distinction in the Boston guide. Philadelphia restaurants were also recognized in the guide for the first time this year.

Restaurants on the Boston list are expecting a business boom. Jahunger experienced significant new business in the last week as a result of the recognition, especially from out-of-state customers, according to Dilmurat.

Unlike other accolades like the James Beard Awards, Michelin recognition can bring in a worldwide audience, according to Dilmurat.

“It’s more global with Michelin,” he said.

Dilmurat said the arrival of the Michelin Guide in Boston could also improve the area’s food scene as more local restaurants start shooting for recognition.

“That’s how a good restaurant scene is built. It’s built on competition,” Dilmurat added.