Michelin has launched its inaugural 2006 New York restaurant guide.

Covering 500 restaurants and 50 hotels out of a total of 23,000 in the city, all five boroughs were considered for the guide – 25 establishments were included in Brooklyn with two receiving stars; 13 were selected in Queens; four in Staten Island; two in the Bronx and 463 in Manhattan with 37 receiving stars.

Four restaurants, Per Se, Le Bernardin, Alain Ducasse and Jean-Georges received a three-star rating for providing “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”.

Four restaurants received a two-star rating for providing “excellent cooking worth a detour” while 31 restaurants received one star for being “a very good restaurant in its category”. 468 additional establishments were selected by the guide as providing a quality experience recommended to be worth trying.

According to the director of publications for the Michelin Guide, Jean-Luc Naret, the group decided to publish its first North American guide in New York because of the city’s reputation as one of the world’s leading fine-dining centres, which they consider to be on a par with other international cities such as London, Madrid and Paris.

“New York City’s cultural diversity makes it one of the most interesting cities in the world and restaurateurs have shown great determination and hard work in developing high standards of gastronomy and service,” said Naret.

“They also have to sustain creativity and progressive thinking in a market that is so abundant and fast-changing and therefore unique.”

Annually, Michelin produces 13 hotel and restaurant guides covering 21 countries. Details: www.viamichelin.com