On 27 May, Helsinki hosted the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony Nordic Countries 2024, which unveiled the most coveted and prestigious recognitions in the restaurant industry. The Nordic Countries Guide covers restaurants across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. More than 120 chefs and restaurateurs from the Nordic countries and more than 60 international and domestic media representatives gathered at the event, which was organized this year in Helsinki's Savoy Theatre and the Helsinki City Hall.
Two new restaurants in Finland received stars at the ceremony, one of which went to a Helsinki restaurant known as The ROOM by Kozeen Shiwan, which was awarded a star just five months after opening. The other star went to the Tapio restaurant in the northern Finland city of Ruka. In addition, Nokka from Helsinki received a Green Star recognising restaurants that lead the way in sustainable practices.
Outstanding talents in the industry were also honoured with Special Awards at the ceremony and a list of new Nordic Bib Gourmand restaurants was also announced. In Helsinki, the restaurants Plein and 305 received the Bib Gourmand recognition as restaurants that offer great quality cooking at a great value. Helsinki’s Bardot and Le Ankka restaurants were announced as new additions to the MICHELIN Guide Nordic Countries 2024.
The 2024 edition of the Michelin Guide Nordic Countries contains a total of 85 MICHELIN Star restaurants and 36 MICHELIN Green Star restaurants. Altogether there are nine restaurants that have received a MICHELIN Star in Finland, six of which are located in Helsinki: Palace with two stars, and the one-star restaurants of Finnjävel Salonki, Demo, Grön, Olo and The ROOM by Kozeen Shiwan. In addition to Nokka, the other Green Star restaurants in Helsinki include Grön, Nolla and Natura.
Helsinki flavours and sustainability in the spotlight
The ceremony, which took place in Helsinki for the first time, was an excellent opportunity to highlight the Finnish capital’s food culture. There’s quite a bit of interest in Helsinki’s selection of restaurants on the world stage and hosting the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony bolstered the city’s visibility and recognition as a top culinary destination.
An invitation-only reception at Helsinki City Hall featured a tasting menu with 12 different Finnish foods that were largely locally sourced. For the first time in the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony’s history, meat was not served to the guests, in line with the City of Helsinki policy that favours responsibly sourced local fish and plant-based food at its catered events.
Guests had the opportunity to watch chefs from Helsinki at work in a show kitchen built for the occasion in the City Hall lobby. Normally, the MICHELIN Guide team puts together a show kitchen that features professionals from different countries and regions, but this time, only the Helsinki restaurants Palace and Nolla were invited to practice their craft and demonstrate their skills.
The MICHELIN Guide Nordic Countries Ceremony was arranged jointly by the MICHELIN Guide Nordic Countries, Visit Finland and the City of Helsinki. The city’s event partners were the Finnish food industry companies of Fazer, Kespro, Valio Aimo and The Helsinki Distilling Company, which each had their own presentation spaces at City Hall.
The success of the City Hall reception was also supported by upper secondary school students from the restaurant and security study programmes of the Helsinki Vocational College Stadin AO and the Omnia training institute.
Buzz of excitement in Esplanade Park and the Senate Square viewing area
As the invited guests transitioned from the ceremony at Savoy Theatre to the Helsinki City Hall reception, their path was brightened by an experience path inspired by ideas from students of the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. Visitors were guided by Stadin AO students and City of Helsinki Tourism unit staff through four different stations in the park that revealed some of the top-secret ingredients in Helsinki residents’ Recipe for Finnish Happiness. Students from the Sibelius Academy also entertained passersby with music.
Not far away in Senate Square, in a viewing area adjacent to the Tori Quarter’s Summer Terrace, a crowd of supporters gathered to watch a livestream of the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony. Professionals in and friends of the restaurant industry joined residents of the city in enjoying the glorious summer evening and being the first to hear about the new MICHELIN Stars awarded to Finland and the other Nordic countries.
Feast Helsinki brings food-related events within reach of everyone
In addition to the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony, Helsinki will be brimming with many other food-related events this summer as the Feast Helsinki food festival offers close to 100 food and drink experiences in all corners of the city. The experiences provided include food festivals, brunches, special menus, workshops and guided tours. The three-week Feast Helsinki food festival will continue until June 16.
The Feast Helsinki entirety, implemented together with operators in the restaurant, tourism and event industries, will continue until the end of 2024. More than 600 events will take place throughout the year.
Find the delectable Feast Helsinki programme and all the food and drink-related events for the entire year on the Feast Helsinki event website.
The MICHELIN Guide Nordic Countries Ceremony was arranged jointly by the MICHELIN Guide Nordic Countries, the City of Helsinki and Visit Finland. The city’s event partners were the Finnish food industry companies of Fazer, Kespro, Valio Aimo and The Helsinki Distilling Company.