AnnaLena Awarded Two Michelin Stars in Vancouver Guide

AnnaLena is the first restaurant with two Michelin stars

Breaking news! The Michelin Guide revealed its 2026 restaurant selection for Vancouver was unveiled today and AnnaLena became the first to be honoured with two stars. It totally caught chef-owner Mike Robbins by surprise, though it's been no secret that he and his team have been gunning for a second star in the past year.

Meanwhile 10 restaurants retained their one-star rating, including Burdock & Co, Published on Main, St. Lawrence, Masayoshi, and Sushi Masuda.

Chef Kim of Five Sails missed out on a star

However, Barbara, a small restaurant located in Chinatown, lost its star after four years since the guide came out in 2022.

There was a lot of online chatter about Five Sails by Alex Kim not making the list, with local media wondering why the fine-dining restaurant helmed by a Masterchef Canada runner-up was overlooked.

However, he only became part owner of the restaurant at Canada Place in August, so perhaps Michelin was unaware or are going to see how he progresses this coming year?

In terms of Bib Gourmand, where the eatery offers good food at great value, Chef's Choice, a Cantonese restaurant on Broadway near Oak was added to the list, as well as contemporary Indian restaurant Kavita, which opened over a year ago. Chef's Choice had a revamp and uses more premium ingredients.

For Recommended Restaurants, four places made the list: modern Thai restaurant Jay Nok, Jeju which serves Korean dishes, farm-to-table Niwa, and Peya, with its French-Indian cuisine.

Contemporary Indian dishes at Kavita

Michelin also bestowed awards to up-and-coming people in the hospitality industry. Chris Enns of Peya was recognised for his outstanding cocktails; Bacchus' Mark Taylor won the sommelier award; the outstanding service award to Yash Shah at Kavita; and the young Michelin chef award went to chef Vish Mayekar.

This is the fifth year of the Michelin Guide in Vancouver, but celebrations were scaled down significantly and only a handful of media were invited. Michelin played down the downgrade, saying this was how the prestigious restaurant guide was going to move forward, but it's a pity not to include more media, since it is the food editors and writers who draw attention to these restaurants to Michelin in the first place.