What better way to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Michelin Nordic Countries guide than with the launch of the new Michelin Nordic Countries websites?
For the past 5 years our team of professional, full-time inspectors have been seeking out the region’s top restaurants and hotels to add to the Nordic Countries guide – but that isn’t quite the beginning of the story, as they have been travelling across Europe for the last 37 years...
The Michelin Main Cities of Europe guide was launched in 1982 and included 20 cities. As times changed, so did the guide, with various European cities added and removed over the years. Leading the way for the Nordic Countries was Denmark, with Copenhagen added in the guide’s second year. This was followed a year later by Sweden with Stockholm added in 1984, then Norway and Finland – with Oslo added in 1984 and Helsinki in 1987. In 1990, Gothenburg became the second Swedish city to join them.
Fast forward to 2014 and the inaugural Nordic Countries guide was launched, with listings initially dedicated to the same main cities. 2015 witnessed the addition of Aarhus (Denmark) and Malmo (bringing the Swedish city count up to three), while 2016 saw the inspectors venture further afield, expanding their reach into smaller cities and towns. In 2017, Reykjavik in Iceland was added to the guide.
2017 also saw a big change in the guide’s presentation, with restaurants moved to the front of the listings, followed by hotels. Restaurants with the highest awards – Stars and Bib Gourmands – were moved to the top and a new award, the Plate, was introduced to identify all other restaurants selected for inclusion in the guide.
The hotly anticipated 2018 edition of the Nordic Countries brings yet more excitement in the form of two new Two-Star restaurants and one new Three-Star restaurant… and the inspectors are already back on the road again searching for new establishments worthy of inclusion for 2019.
