Three Stars, One Journey Gia Hanoi’s MICHELIN Recognition 2025

Gia Hanoi is proud to retain its MICHELIN Star for the third consecutive year (2023–2025). The MICHELIN Guide—the world’s most respected dining reference—awards stars to restaurants that demonstrate outstanding cuisine, consistency, and craft. 

For Gia, this recognition affirms our fine-dining vision in Hanoi, led by Chef Sam Tran: ingredient-driven Vietnamese cuisine that bridges tradition and innovation. Each season, we continue telling Vietnam’s story through flavor—listening to ingredients, honoring culture, and welcoming guests with quiet confidence.

The MICHELIN Guide — A New Chapter For Vietnam’s Fine Dining Scene

The MICHELIN Guide, founded in France in 1900, has become one of the world’s most prestigious culinary references. Restaurants are awarded MICHELIN Stars based on five criteria: ingredient quality, harmony of flavors, mastery of techniques, the chef’s personality, and consistency.

In 2023, the MICHELIN Guide officially arrived in Vietnam, honoring exceptional restaurants that represent the country’s evolving culinary identity. That year, Gia was among the first Vietnamese restaurants to receive a MICHELIN Star,  a milestone that placed Hanoi’s fine dining on the global map.

For us, it was not a destination, but a beginning,  a reminder to stay grounded in our roots while reaching further with quiet confidence.

From The First Star — The Beginning Of A Quiet Dialogue

When Gia first received its MICHELIN Star, it was not simply a milestone, but a moment of introspection. For Chef Sam Tran and the team, the star symbolized recognition for the way Gia listens to the whispers of Vietnamese culinary memory, to the rhythm of Hanoi, and to the diners who bring their own stories to the table.

The Nourishment Tasting Menu (Thực đơn Dung Dưỡng) introduced before the MICHELIN announcement, became a reflection of that philosophy. It was about embracing receiving ingredients, stories, and emotions with openness, caring for what has been accepted, allowing it to grow, deepen, and transform.

As Chef Sam Tran explains: “To truly nurture something, you must first accept it — as it is. That is how understanding begins.” In creating the menu, the team spent months “embracing” ingredients — discovering them in their rawest forms, from every region and memory.  Only then could they find ways to “nurture” them into harmony — crafting dishes that felt both generous in flavor and gentle in spirit.

One of the menu’s most emblematic dishes is Cabbage | Fermented Anchovy Sauce. Grilled over glowing charcoal, the cabbage carries a subtle smokiness, paired with a rich sauce of mắm nêm and peanuts. The result is unexpected — a familiar vegetable, transformed into something earthy and deeply comforting.

Another dish, Porridge | Mushroom, reimagines one of Vietnam’s most humble staples. Creamy yet restrained, it carries the warmth of congee shared at home — simple, soothing, yet layered with intention and quiet complexity.

That first star marked both an achievement and a responsibility. It reminded us that recognition is not an endpoint, but a conversation, between the present and the past, between what is celebrated and what is yet to come.

At Gia, we continue to cook not to chase stars, but to honor where we stand: on this land, beside these rivers, within this culture that continues to nourish us.

The Second Star, The Same Flame — Nurturing Growth Through Every Season

The following year, the second recognition by the MICHELIN Guide Vietnam reaffirmed what Gia has always stood for: that fine dining in Hanoi can be deeply Vietnamese, modern yet rooted in soul.

Behind each seasonal tasting menu lies a long journey of research and dialogue — between craft and intuition, past and present. As the menu evolved, so did the way the team cooked, served, and shared stories. Each ingredient became a note in a larger conversation, reminding us that artistry begins with listening and endures through care.

The Full Moon Menu (2023) arrived just after the first MICHELIN recognition, a celebration of abundance and renewal. As the brightest moon rose above the delta, the menu reflected the joy of harvest, the fragrance of ripe fields, the warmth of shared meals, and the spirit of North Vietnam’s autumn. It was a feast, not in grandeur, but in emotion — an invitation to gather, to remember, and to taste the light of the season itself.

Then in 2024, the story turned outward again with the tasting menu Golden Forest, Silver Sea (Rừng Vàng, Biển Bạc).  Borrowed from an old Vietnamese idiom, it honored the immense generosity of nature — the forests that sustain, the seas that provide, and the hands that harvest. Every dish was a reflection of gratitude,  a dialogue between the wild and the refined, between humanity and the natural world. Through this menu, Gia invited diners to listen to the hum of rivers, the whisper of leaves, the pulse of life that connects us all.

The Third Star — Gratitude As The Heart Of Creation

In 2025, Gia was once again named among MICHELIN Star restaurants in Vietnam  marking a third year of continued excellence.

This recognition belongs not only to the kitchen, but to everyone who has been part of the journey: the diners who have returned season after season; the farmers and producers who provide the finest ingredients; and the partners who walk beside Gia with unwavering trust.

As Chef Sam Tran often shares, “Every menu begins with gratitude for the ingredients, for the craft, and for the people who give meaning to it all.”

Following Gia’s second MICHELIN recognition, the 2024 menu Inside the River was born. It explored Hanoi’s relationship with the Red River, whose waters have nurtured the city’s civilization and cuisine for centuries. The menu was an ode to the land and its lifeblood, tracing how the river’s fertile silt has shaped the flavors and livelihoods of generations. Just as the rivers embrace Hanoi, Gia celebrated the gifts of nature, the harmony between flow, patience, and creation.

In 2025, the story deepened with the tasting menu Artery Of Identity, a journey through the currents that define Vietnamese cuisine. It explored the lifelines that connect dishes, ingredients, and people, from the heart of the delta to the coastlines, from tradition to modernity.

Each course was a reflection of what gives Vietnamese cuisine its soul: its adaptability, its subtlety, and its emotional resonance. Through this menu, Gia invited diners to feel the pulse of identity, not as something fixed, but as something that flows, evolves, and endures. Like one of our courses, Mackerel | Mustard Leaves. Hidden beneath the lush green garden lies the briny taste of the sea, quietly maturing over time to reach its full depth. From that foundation, we place beside it a sorbet: tangy, refreshing, and cooling to balance the richness and ease the sultry heat of a Northern summer. When that gentle tartness meets the crisp, verdant freshness of summer greens, a circle of flavors is completed.

Three Stars, Three Chapters Yet The Journey Continues

To Gia, a MICHELIN Star is not an ending but a promise: to keep telling the Vietnamese story with humility and imagination. As Gia enters a new season, each dish remains a bridge, connecting memory and modernity, Hanoi and the world. And so, the flame remains steady, illuminating the quiet path where fine dining in Vietnam finds its truest voice: sincere, rooted, and ever-evolving.

About Gia

Nestled in the heart of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Gia is a contemporary fine dining restaurant proudly listed in the MICHELIN Guide Vietnam. Led by Chef Sam Tran, Gia tells Vietnam’s culinary story through seasonal tasting menus that bridge tradition and innovation. Each dish reflects the restaurant’s philosophy to honor Vietnamese ingredients, elevate local craftsmanship, and create a dining experience that feels both personal and timeless.

Recognized among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants (Top 51–100) and The Best Chef Awards, Gia continues to celebrate Vietnam’s rich gastronomic heritage with modern artistry and quiet confidence.

Book your table to explore the new tasting menu — Artery of Identity / Sinh Mạch — June 2025

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