Cappadocia And İzmir Propel Türkiye Onto The Global Gastronomy Stage With Michelin 2026

Published on December 7, 2025

The 2026 version of the MICHELIN Guide announcing its newest picks focused on more than simply a few new stars. It was a watershed moment, a culinary rebirth that dares the world to regard Türkiye not as a growing food destination but as one that already enjoys global admiration. The news that the Guide will shortly include the entire country of Türkiye highlights this change of perspective.

Among the most striking headlines of the night: the inclusion of 18 restaurants from Cappadocia, the region’s first-ever appearance in the Michelin selection, and the elevation of a restaurant in İzmir, Vino Locale, to two-star status.

Why Cappadocia matters and what it adds

Cappadocia is already a majestic draw for travellers, with its fairy-chimney rock formations, cave dwellings, hot-air balloon mornings, and centuries of layered history. Today, the region adds another dimension, its culinary tradition. According to the Guide, what impressed its inspectors was not just the food but the spirit of the region: the hospitality, the sense of timelessness, and an invitation to slow down and savour life’s simplest pleasures.

Local dishes, slow-roasted meats, fermented grains, clay-pot casseroles, regional stews and mezes, are now presented with reverence and creativity. Among the newcomers, Revithia, set in the historic Kayakapı district, earned the region’s first Michelin Star. Its menu revives near-forgotten recipes, milk-braised lamb, fermented grain soups, locally preserved condiments, through a contemporary lens, offering visitors not just a meal, but a rediscovery of Cappadocia’s soil-bound memory.

Beyond Revithia, five restaurants secured the more accessible Bib Gourmand distinction, while numerous others joined the Guide’s recommended list, delighting travellers seeking authenticity without the fine-dining price tag.

For a travel journalist or gastronomic wanderer, Cappadocia is now doubly appealing: its surreal landscapes, balloon-filled skies and ancient caves, complemented by a culinary heritage rising to international acclaim.

İzmir, Muğla, İstanbul and Bodrum: A growing gastronomic mosaic

Türkiye’s culinary evolution isn’t confined to Cappadocia. The 2026 Guide highlights a dynamic, region-spanning food renaissance:

• In İzmir, Vino Locale claimed the city’s first-ever two-star honour, a recognition of cuisine blending Aegean terroir with subtle global influences, rooted in seasonal, local ingredients.
• In Muğla (including coastal Bodrum), Mezra Yalıkavak joined the one-star fraternity with its farm-to-table ethos, gardens, livestock and traditional techniques , a living celebration of ancestral tastes.
• In İstanbul, Araf, a tiny, fire-driven counter restaurant, earned its first star, offering pure, unpretentious cooking rooted in quality and technique.

Altogether, Türkiye now boasts 15 one-star restaurants, with three new additions this year. The Bib Gourmand list has swelled to 39, while the Guide’s total recommendations, encompassing more casual, quality-driven dining, exceed 115 venues.

But perhaps most telling is the rise of sustainability: four restaurants (including one in Cappadocia) earned the Guide’s Green Star, signalling a growing commitment to ecological gastronomy and responsible tourism.

What this means for travellers and for Türkiye as a destination

For travellers, this transformation carries weighty implications. Hungry visitors to Türkiye now have a legitimate, globally recognised reason to plan their itineraries not only around heritage sites and coastlines, but around food, terroir and region-specific culinary narratives.

Thanks to the expansion of the Guide, travellers can now explore gastronomic experiences across İstanbul’s cosmopolitan dining, İzmir’s Aegean terroir, Muğla and Bodrum’s coastal produce, and Cappadocia’s ancient Anatolian kitchen. The national diversity of dishes, from clay-pot stews and wood-fire grills to fermented soups and farm-fresh produce, presents a journey through time, landscape and culture.

What’s more, for travel writers such as myself, the inclusion of local, women-led eateries and sustainability-driven restaurants adds layers of context: heritage, gender, ecology. It transforms a trip into a deeper engagement with local communities and traditions, the kind that travellers increasingly value.

The official travel portal for Türkiye, operated by GoTürkiye, underscored this mission, promoting not only Local Foods & Chefs but also Sustainable Routes and Boutique & Unique Experiences.

A new chapter begins

As night turned into applause at the 2026 Michelin ceremony, Türkiye didn’t just earn stars, it earned a place in travellers’ imaginations as a gastronomy destination with soul. From the candle-lit counters of Istanbul, to the olive-scented gardens of Muğla, to the balloon-lit valleys of Cappadocia, Türkiye has begun to speak to the world in a new language: one of flavour, history and heartfelt hospitality.

For the journey writers among us, it’s not just a list, but an invitation: to take it easy, to relish the past, to unfold the tales not only through the visual experience but also through the olfactory, haptic, and social dining across the enchanting, dynamically changing terrain of the nation.