West Palm Beach has its first Michelin-starred restaurant.
Emelina, an intimate Cuban tasting-menu spot in the Flamingo Park District, earned One Michelin Star at the 2026 Michelin Guide Florida ceremony — the first time the famed guide has covered the entire state.
A historic first for Cuban cuisine
Emelina was one of just two restaurants in all of Florida to earn a new star this year, and its win carries weight far beyond Palm Beach County.
According to industry coverage, it is the first Cuban restaurant anywhere in the world to receive a Michelin Star — and the only starred restaurant in The Palm Beaches.
The recognition is all the more striking given the timing: the 16-seat chef’s counter opened only in February 2026, making it among the youngest restaurants ever to earn a Star in Florida.
“Cuban cuisine has been waiting a long time for this moment,” co-chef Camila Salazar said after the award.
Meet the restaurant
Emelina is led by husband-and-wife chefs Osmel González and Camila Salazar, and named for González’s grandmother — a nod to the elegance of a vanished Havana.
Rather than serving nostalgic classics, the 10-course tasting menu, priced around $235, poses a “what if” question: what Cuban food might have become had the island’s chefs been free to travel, study abroad and return with new techniques.
That ambition shows on the plate. Michelin’s inspectors singled out poached local oysters with yucca foam, cherry tomatoes with Cuban-oregano chimichurri, dry-aged beef from a local rancher with green mango mojo, and a reimagined rabo encendido oxtail stew.
Most ingredients are sourced from South Florida, a deliberate choice that roots the menu in its place.
Part of a statewide milestone
Emelina’s star landed as Michelin expanded its Florida coverage from a handful of metros to the entire state for the first time. The guide began in Florida in 2022 with Miami, Orlando and Tampa, added Greater Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beaches and St. Pete-Clearwater in 2025, then sent inspectors from the Panhandle to Key West for 2026. The full selection now spans about 200 restaurants across 41 cuisine types, including 26 carrying Stars.
West Palm Beach also picked up a new Michelin Recommended restaurant, Pushkar Marathe’s Ela Curry & Cocktails, while area mainstays such as Aioli held onto their place in the guide.
What it means for the Palm Beaches
For a destination better known for beaches and golf, a homegrown Michelin Star is a meaningful tourism signal. The Palm Beaches had briefly held a star before — at the now-closed Konro — but Emelina gives the region a fresh, buzzy reason to book a table. With Michelin now combing the whole state, smaller Florida markets are suddenly on the culinary map, and West Palm Beach has staked an early claim as a dining destination in its own right.
