Eating At 28 Michelin-Starred Restaurants In One Day Set A World Record — And It Wasn't Cheap

Many Michelin-starred restaurants are hard to get into, with some having months-long wait times to net a table. Not to mention they're expensive as all get-out. Most foodies would be lucky to eat at 10 of these spots in a lifetime — but others dream bigger and are willing to lay down the funds to fulfill that dream. Nobody exemplifies this better than Joshua Fyksen, who broke the Guinness World Record for most Michelin-starred restaurants visited in 24 hours, dining at 28 establishments from May 9 to 10, 2025.

Fyksen embarked on his wild journey in New York City, which only makes sense, as NYC has the most Michelin stars of any U.S. city. The former record in this category, set in 2024, encompassed 25 Michelin-starred eateries. Fyksen spent an eye-popping $1,451.34 to accomplish the new record, and that amount covered more than just the food. His meals cost $976.97 total, but transportation alone cost him $474.37 (as of this writing, riding the New York subway usually costs $3, but we're guessing that would have slowed Fyksen down). His list of visits included the exceedingly famous Eleven Madison Park; Semma, one of the best Indian restaurants in NYC; and Korean eatery Oiji Mi.

Surprisingly, this wasn't Fyksen's first time breaking this particular record. In 2023, he visited 22 Michelin-starred restaurants, also in NYC, to achieve his first victory in the category. As you can probably imagine, soaring to new heights in 2025 took extremely careful planning and execution on his part.

Joshua Fyksen currently works as a sommelier at Peter Luger Steakhouse, an iconic New York City steakhouse, but this doesn't net him special treatment at the city's other restaurants. To eat at 28 Michelin-starred spots in 24 hours, Fyksen told Guinness World Records that he began by putting together a list of eateries, then sifted through their menus (and sometimes called ahead) to figure out how to grab the quickest bites, even at restaurants which offer meals that usually take hours to get through.

Stomach space was also a factor that could make or break Fyksen's record, so he trained himself by eating large meals to stretch his stomach, then fasted for a day before his marathon. He and his wife Angela began their journey on May 9 with a tuna tostada at Oxomoco, a famed Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn (which luckily accepts walk-ins).

Fyksen visited many more NYC Michelin-starred restaurants worth adding to your bucket list, such as Le Coucou; Corima; and Gramercy Tavern, Fyksen's final stop on his record-breaking tour, where he ate just a single oyster. He named his top three dishes as "the Jonah crab salad with Apple and Wasabi at Le Pavillon, the Scallop Dumpling with English Peas and Foie Gras at Tuome, and the Tortellini Pomodoro at Torrisi." The record-breaker admitted that his two-day extravaganza isn't the ideal way to experience these eateries, but he enjoyed every single dish. That's a real testament to the quality of these uniquely amazing restaurants.