A Michelin Star rating is one of the most prestigious honors a restaurant can receive. It indicates culinary excellence and can have a big impact on a restaurant’s success.
This week saw the announcement of France’s Michelin restaurant Stars, with 52 restaurants, located throughout France and often outside the major cities, awarded their first Star.
This Star for Le Petit Léon is the first for Honeyman and his team.
Situated in the heart of Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère in the South of France, garden restaurant Le Petit Léon is owned and run by Honeyman and his wife Sina. Its menu focuses on using local seasonal produce to create refined, classic cuisine.
“A Michelin star is one of the most prestigious honours a restaurant can receive, says Honeyman.
“While I pride myself on cooking for people, not praise, there’s no denying it’s an accolade that many chefs and restaurant owners only dream of, and myself, and the rest of the team at Le Petit Léon, are incredibly honoured and humbled to be recognised.”
Honeyman, who was born in South Africa, is considered one of Aoteroa’s top chefs having worked in some of of Auckland’s most notable eateries including The French Cafe, Dallows, Cru and
Everybody’s Izakaya before opening the Three Hat award-winning restaurant Paris Butter in 2016. In the Southern Hemisphere the Michelin rating system is not used. Instead the ‘hats’ system serves as a benchmark of culinary excellence.
Together with his wife Sina, a sommelier, Honeyman took over Le Petit Léon in 2015 – having originally worked at the restaurant, situated in a 300-year-old farm house, alongside the original owner in his youth.
