As soon as the Michelin Guide, a distinguished ranking of the best restaurants in the world, announced that it would be expanding into Colorado, the chitter-chatter began. Who would get a star? Who would be snubbed? How long had Michelin’s famously anonymous inspectors been in our midst? And why would only certain parts of the state—Aspen, Snowmass Village, Vail, Beaver Creek, Denver, and Boulder—be considered?

Those answers are long and convoluted (see below), but when stars were awarded at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on September 12, Bosq was the only Aspen restaurant so anointed, while Mawa’s Kitchen, The Little Nell’s Element 47, and Hotel Jerome’s Prospect received “Recommended” status. (In total, five Colorado restaurants received single-star status: Bosq, along with Beckon, Brutø, and The Wolf’s Tailor in Denver and Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder.) There were also nine Bib Gourmands named for being terrific restaurants with affordable pricing, and 30 Recommended restaurants, which Michelin defines as “the sign of a chef using quality ingredients that are well cooked; simply a good meal.”

The guide, which, yes, is produced by the eponymous tire company, was first published in France in the early 1900s as a means for motorists to plan their road trips around. Since the beginning, Michelin has used the following five criteria to evaluate restaurants: 1) quality products; 2) harmony of flavors; 3) mastery of cooking techniques; 4) the voice and personality of the chef reflected in the cuisine; 5) consistency between each visit and throughout the menu. Each contending restaurant is visited anonymously multiple times. 

The Colorado destinations share company with only a handful of other cities in North America: Atlanta, Chicago, Florida’s Miami/Orlando/Tampa, New York City, Toronto, Vancouver BC, and Washington DC (plus five cities in California, which has the most Michelin stars—87—than any other state). It may seem surprising that Colorado’s scene caught Michelin’s attention before culinary nerve centers like Seattle or Portland, Oregon.

What is left unsaid here is that local tourism boards help fund the Guide’s marketing efforts. It’s expensive to do this degree of dining, especially anonymously. But that means that towns or cities that opted not to pay the fees were excluded from consideration. But, as Andrew Festa, external communications for Michelin North America explains it, “The inspection team conducts an initial study of the entire area. During that destination assessment, the inspectors evaluate the culinary hot spots for the inaugural selection. The coverage area often expands in subsequent selections.”

All that said, this arrangement shouldn’t diminish the importance of the recognition, as the Michelin Guide’s mere presence is destined to attract gobs of tourism dollars to the state.

To wit: The day after Bosq received its star, the 35-seat restaurant sold out for the entire season. (Likewise, within an hour of the announcement, the reservation systems for Denver’s Brutø and The Wolf’s Tailor were so overwhelmed that they crashed.) This accolade, in addition to bringing immeasurable excitement, pride, and validation to those recognized, means security, both financially and operationally.

 “We operate eight months a year but pay bills 12 months out of the year,” explains Bosq chef-owner C. Barclay Dodge. “[The star also helps] with labor, which has always been such a nightmare and now it’s not. I’m staffed and people want to come work for us.”

Or to put it another way: “This is stability for us,” he says.