Where did Sézanne’s 3 Michelin stars go? Guide strips status after head chef departure
After Daniel Calvert’s high-profile exit, Sézanne is being reassessed by Michelin as new chef Stephen Lancaster reshapes the restaurant’s menu
Reclaiming status
Lancaster, who cemented his reputation in Singapore’s competitive culinary scene at Saint Pierre, leading the establishment to two-Michelin-star status, will face the pressure of reclaiming star status for Sézanne. It will be familiar ground; in 2022, Lancaster debuted his restaurant, Poise (now closed), clinching a Michelin star within its first year.
In a written response to queries from the South China Morning Post regarding Sézanne’s star status, the Michelin Japan team explained that “following significant changes at Sézanne in spring 2026, the restaurant’s previous listing on the Michelin Guide website was taken offline.
“The restaurant has since reopened with a new team and now appears again on our platform with a new listing. As is standard in such circumstances, it is currently under evaluation by our inspectors.”
The shift is significant, given an article on the Michelin Guide website from 2016 states that “star ratings remain unaffected even if a restaurant’s head chef decides to leave halfway through the year and a new chef comes on board”.
In another article published in 2025, in response to the question of whether Michelin removes a restaurant’s star designation following the departure of its head chef, the website states: “No. Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants, not chefs. If a restaurant promotes a sous chef or brings in a new head chef and they maintain the same standard of cooking, then the restaurant will keep its star.”
