But these restaurants don’t get the same level of recognition or respect from food lists like the Michelin Guide.

Michelin (yes, the tyre company) is world renowned for being the leader in highlighting gourmet fine dining, with over 100 years of history. Michelin awards 1-3 stars for establishments that provide exceptional food and service based on five criteria: high-quality products, the harmony of flavours, mastery of cooking techniques, the personality of the chef as expressed in the cuisine, and consistency between each visit.

Michelin Guide’s are regularly criticized for the lack of representation in their selections. For instance, there are dedicated guides for 30 international locations but none of them are in Africa or the Caribbean. There are only six Michelin-starred restaurants in the world that have Black executive chefs, and an analysis by the international food magazine, Chef’s Pencil, found that Black people are the most underrepresented among executive chefs at America’s Michelin-starred restaurants.

But Lonie Murdock believes the time for African and Caribbean cuisine to shine is coming. Murdock is a personal-trainer-turned chef and the owner of Miss Likklemore’s Caribbean-inspired dining house in Toronto.

Murdock says she’s not just striving to have Miss Likklemore’s mentioned by Michelin, she wants other Black chefs and restaurant owners to get recognized too.

“This cuisine deserves it, our community deserves it. We have amazing chefs, we have amazing ingredients, we have amazing restaurants. We just really haven't had the platform to be highlighted,” Murdock said.

Only 82 of Toronto’s roughly 7,500 restaurants were mentioned on Michelin’s prestigious list but only one serves primarily Caribbean food. The Toronto Star’s food writer and former recipe taster and developer, Karon Liu, says this disparity is partially because of Michelin’s brand.

“It started with a very Eurocentric definition of dining, the white table cloth, the app-main-dessert structure, a very specific kind of hospitality, service, atmosphere, and cuisine,” Liu explained. “They reward a very specific type of dining and not all cuisines fit that mold, so that's why you're seeing certain cuisines over-represented.”

Liu notes that Michelin Guides regularly feature restaurants that serve French, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian or high-end Japanese cuisine and don’t necessarily reflect the diversity of the cities they feature. Michelin’s also been accused of having bias towards French cuisine and dining standards. 

Michelin Guide’s North American anonymous chief inspector said in response to the criticism, 

“Michelin was established in France, so it’s natural that there’s that perception, but our global selection of restaurants features nearly 200 cuisine types across more than 60 Guides.”

They also said “the anonymous inspectors have no quotas regarding cuisine types reflected in the Michelin Guide” and that “Michelin doesn't keep records of the ethnic backgrounds of chefs featured in the Guide because restaurants are evaluated only by the food on the plate.”

Liu says despite the criticisms, because of Michelin’s brand and long, successful history of covering a particular type of restaurant, “they don't really have an incentive to change.”

“There are always going to be people who say why isn't [the Guide] diverse, why isn’t it covering this cuisine, why aren’t any restaurants from this neighbourhood being reflected? The truth is, it's not necessarily what Michelin is about,” Liu said. “Whether or not they want to pivot to restaurants that have lower price points or reflect a more everyday dining scene and not so much the aspirational dining that they've been famous for, that's up to them.” 

Part of Murdock’s goal for Miss Likklemore’s is to change the way everyone – from Michelin’s anonymous reviewers to everyday people – thinks about Caribbean food and elevate its status. Miss Likklemore’s started as a food pop-up in 2020 on Queen St., now the restaurant is located in one of Toronto’s trendiest neighborhoods, the Fashion District on King West.

Murdock and her husband, Darren Hinds, are the majority owners of the restaurant. Murdock says she wanted to take the business to the next level and hoped that it would inspire others to make a leap, and it still motivates her.

“To show not only other business owners but people who invest in businesses and people who own properties for rent that this is a viable business. We're a viable community, we come out,” she said. “We're teaching people all over the place that our food, our flavours, they deserve this kind of space, this kind of location and this kind of vibe. And we're teaching other people that when you're planning your night out, this is also something you should be looking at.” 

Most Caribbean, Afro-Caribbean, Latin Caribbean and other ethnic restaurants are relegated to strip malls and small storefronts, Murdock points out. She suspects it’s because these are usually the easiest and the cheapest properties to access and Michelin Guide’s North American anonymous chief inspector said, “Operating a fine dining restaurant at a level of excellence is a costly endeavour.” 

“People have to see that it's going to succeed before other people will say ‘Oh, I saw that. You want to do something like that? I've seen it, that was good. Here's the keys, here’s the funding,’” Murdock said. 

Michelin also gives out Bib Gourmand designations to restaurants that offer good quality food for good value. Chubby's Jamaican Kitchen, which is not Black-owned but was conceptualized by Black chef Angela Lawrence, received this designation in 2023. As Murdock and Miss Likklemore’s strive to earn a similar recognition, she’s also celebrating her colleague. 

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“It really validates Caribbean cuisine in terms of a real dining experience and not just takeout or fast casual, so it's important.”

Murdock says Chubby’s Bib is great for Miss Likklemore’s too because there’s enough success to go around and that the success of one business can also benefit others.

“If people are coming here and they're having a great dining experience and they've never been to Chubby’s, they're gonna go try Chubby’s. If they go to Chubby’s and they have a great dining experience, they're gonna come here,” Murdock said.

Liu recommends that people turn to sources other than the Michelin Guide to help them discover new, delicious food that’s more suited to your individual tastes and budget. He acknowledges that the Guide recognizes culinary excellence and can help diners but says it’s not the be-all-and-end-all list because it’s impossible to create an objective list of good restaurants. 

“There are a lot of great restaurants that probably aren't going to be on Michelin's radar but those are the places that I like and the places that people who live in the city like to go to,” Liu said. “You can't have one list that speaks for a city as diverse as Toronto. More voices are always better.”

There are tons of bloggers and food-focused content creators on TikTok and Instagram as well as events like ByBlacks Restaurant Week. Murdock also sees the power of social media to help diners explore new cuisines.

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“I think social media is a great tool for the hospitality industry, more so than any of those review systems, maybe more so than Michelin. TikTok can get people in the door faster than Michelin can.” 

Liu says the best way for people to discover new foods is to “pound the pavement” and explore the restaurants and grocery stores in neighbourhoods on foot and ask questions to find the best local gems.