[Exclusive] Restaurant Used 'Ant Sorbet' for Four Years; Michelin Rating Retained Despite Guilty Verdict

[Financial News] Evett, a two-Michelin-star restaurant that used ants not approved as food ingredients in its dishes, will retain its two-star rating this year despite a guilty verdict. The restaurant also served ant dishes for nearly four years, but the administrative action imposed on it was limited to a corrective order rather than a business suspension or penalty surcharge.
According to Financial News reporting on the 22nd, MICHELIN Guide Korea is aware that Evett's representative and the corporate entity were found guilty of violating the Food Sanitation Act. However, it does not plan to change the restaurant's two-star rating this year because of the verdict.
A MICHELIN Guide Korea official said, "Incidents or accidents involving individual restaurants are not evaluation criteria in themselves," adding, "The Michelin Guide evaluates restaurants solely by focusing on their cuisine." The official explained that food safety and hygiene management fall under the responsibility of the relevant authorities, while compliance with applicable laws is considered a basic prerequisite for selected restaurants.
The administrative action was also limited to a corrective order. On Jan. 9 last year, the sanitation division of Gangnam-gu issued Evett a corrective order for using and selling food containing insects that cannot be used as food ingredients. No separate action, such as a business suspension or penalty surcharge, was imposed.
Earlier, on the 16th, Judge Lee Se-chang of Criminal Division 8 at Seoul Western District Court sentenced Kim, Evett's representative, to a fine of 15 million won for violating the Food Sanitation Act. The corporate entity Evett was fined 10 million won.
According to prosecutors, Kim's side brought dried ant products into the country from the United States and Thailand between April 2021 and November 2024, then served three to five ants on some dishes for about three years and nine months, until January 2025. Investigators found that the restaurant had sold approximately 120 million won worth of such dishes through about 12,000 transactions. The ants are not recognized as food ingredients in South Korea and therefore cannot be used in food.
The court determined that "the culpability is not minor," citing the use of ants in food and restaurant promotions, as well as the detection of excessive levels of heavy metals in the ants used. However, it took into account that Kim was a first-time offender, that the actual amount served appeared to be smaller than the prosecution's estimate, that ants are used as food ingredients in some other countries, and that the restaurant stopped using them after receiving the corrective order.
Kim has operated the restaurant with her Australian-born husband, an owner-chef who also appeared on the Netflix entertainment program "Culinary Class Wars." In court, Kim's side also emphasized that ants are used as food ingredients in countries including Australia, Denmark and India.

Criminal penalties and administrative actions are handled through separate procedures. An official from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explained, "An administrative action may be imposed for a single violation, and if a penal provision applies, criminal punishment may also be imposed," adding, "The standards for administrative action are applied differently depending on the type of business, such as food manufacturing and processing businesses or general restaurants."
Authority to impose administrative actions on general restaurants rests with the relevant lower-level local government. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety referred the case to prosecutors following an investigation by its special judicial police officers, taking into account the period and quantity of Evett's ant use.
Evett first received one Michelin star in the 2020 Michelin Guide and was promoted to two stars in 2025. At the time, the Michelin Guide also introduced sikhye sorbet served with ants as one of Evett's signature dishes.
The Blue Ribbon Survey, a domestic restaurant guide, also lists Evett. Regarding whether criminal punishment or violations of the Food Sanitation Act are reflected in its selection criteria, it said that its evaluation standards are confidential.
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to Seo Young-seok, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea on the Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly, a total of 21 violations of the Food Sanitation Act were detected at 17 restaurants listed in the Michelin Guide between 2023 and 2025. Most cases resulted only in corrective orders or administrative fines, and Evett was the sole case referred to prosecutors by the ministry's special judicial police.
[email protected] Choi Seung-han Reporter