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Michelin Season 2011, it's a wrap!

The Michelin season kicked off in October 2010 with the release of the New York guide  and came to a close this week with the publication of the Main Cities of Europe guide. In 2010/2011 season Michelin published the following 2011 guides: New York, Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe, San Francisco, Germany, Switzerland, Chicago, Belgium & Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Tokyo-Yokohama, Italy, Spain & Portugal, Hong Kong-Macau, Great Britain & Ireland, France and Main Cities of Europe. It was the first time Michelin published a Chicago guide. Time to take a look at what's going on in the world of Michelin.

Michelin2011At the moment  there seems to be quite a lot of talk about Michelin being much more frugal with its stars in 2011 in Europe than they were in previous years. No doubt this has something to do with the fact that only one restaurant in Europe was promoted to the three-star category this year, Schloss Schauenstein in Switzerland. With Le Pont de Brent (Switzerland) and Michel Trama (France) losing their third stars, the overall score in Europe at the top of the pyramid is minus one. In the past decade we had been getting used to multiple restaurants in Europe gaining a third star every year. Even a small country like the Netherlands that had never had a three-star restaurant before, saw three-star ratings being awarded in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Of course Michelin aficionados all remember the explosion of stars in France in 2007 with 5 new three-star restaurants and 7 new two-star restaurants, followed by another star burst in Germany in 2008 with 3 new three-star restaurants and 4 new two-stars. However, this was all topped by the release of the first Tokyo guide in 2008 which listed 8 three-star restaurants  and 25 two-star restaurants. So we have been spoilt in recent years.

Outside Europe there certainly hasn't been a shortage of new three-star restaurants in 2011. The new Chicago guide features 2, San Francisco and Hong Kong each saw one promotion and Japan got 9 new three-star restaurants - 4 in Tokyo, 1 in Kyoto, 2 in Osaka and 2 in Kobe.

With these new additions there are now 96 three-star restaurants in the world, of which 57 in Europe,  9 in the US, 26 in Japan and 4 in Hong Kong/Macau.

Compared to 2010 Europe has done really well in the 2011 guides. Almost all countries show a growth of the number of Michelin starred restaurants, with Germany, Spain and France doing especially well in the two-star department. Spain got 4 and Germany and France each got 5 new two-star restaurants. Germany is also showing a strong increase in the one-star section.

The US is showing growth as well although the first release of the Chicago guide somewhat blurs the picture. The first edition of the Chicago guide awards three stars to restaurants Alinea and L20 and features 3 two-star restaurants. In the San Francisco guide The restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley gained a third star. New York didn't get a new three-star restaurant but 4 restaurants were awarded a second star. Compared to 2010 the number of new one-star restaurants in New York dropped from 17 to 6.

On to the land of the rising chopsticks: Japan. With 9 new three-star restaurants and a total 26, Japan has become the country with the most three-star restaurants in the world (France has 25).  The 2011 Japan guides also feature a staggering number of 42 new two-star restaurants, although it must be said that 14 of these are in Yokohama or Kobe, new additions in 2011 to the Tokyo and Kyoto guides respectively.

Bibgourmand

Another important development this Michelin season is the continued growth of the number of Bib Gourmand restaurants in Europe. Almost every European country boasts an increase of the number of Bib Gourmands. On average most countries have gained no fewer than 20 to 30 new Bib Gourmand restaurants. Only the Spain & Portugal guide shows a small decline. France and Germany on the other hand show very strong growth. Both countries had a record number of new entries; Germany 66 and France 177. Although it must be said that the turnover in this category is substantial, the importance of the Bib Gourmand category in Europe is clearly on the rise.

Currently Germany is the rising star in Europe. In the last few years Germany has shown a significant growth in the number of starred restaurants. At the moment they have the largest number of three-star restaurants (9) in Europe after France. They gained a new three-star restaurant as recently as 2009 (Aqua). With 23 two-star restaurants they follow France (76) and Italy (37) in third place and they are catching up with Italy when it comes to the 2nd place in the one-star department. France is leading with 470 one-star restaurants, followed by Italy with 233 and Germany with 205. In the Bib Gourmand category they hold a firm second place with 386 restaurants; France has a total of 601 and Italy has 235.

Traditionally, Scandinavia has been famous for the beauty of its scenery rather than the quality of its cuisine. In recent years, a lot has been invested in upgrading the culinary reputation of this region, no doubt with a view to bolstering tourism. At the Bocuse d'Or in Lyon earlier this year Denmark, Sweden and Norway scored an impressive hattrick and some even consider restaurant Noma in Copenhagen the best restaurant in the world. So far these developments are not mirrored by a strong increase of the number of starred restaurants. On the contrary, the overall number has remained stable or shown a small decline in recent years.

The 2012 Michelin Guide season will probably start in October this year. It will be fascinating to see  what news it brings. Staying close to home, I wonder in which country Europe's next three-star restaurant will be, in Germany or Denmark?!


Posted 19-03-2011




 
 
 
 

 
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