“In a short ten years, the selection of gastronomic restaurants in Europe’s major cities has truly grown by leaps and bounds.Clearly, the number of restaurants offering high quality cooking has grown tremendously in Europe, as seen by the 519 starred restaurants in the 2016 MICHELIN guide Main Cities of Europe, compared to 216 in 2006, representing a growth of 115% in just 10 years. Europe’s major capitals, centers of industry and commerce, are veritable crossroads of cultural exchange, and have seen spectacular development in their fine dining options. Berlin is a perfect example of this phenomenon, counting 19 starred restaurants in 2016 vs. just 9 in 2006. Over the same period, London’s starred restaurant count has almost doubled from 32 to 63, and other European metropoles such as Brussels, Turin, Amsterdam, Paris or Zurich have all seen a huge growth in their culinary offerings. What is particularly impressive is the explosion of one starred restaurants in the major cities, rising from 188 In 2006 to 414 today, a reflection of the new generation of young chefs eager to show their ability to cook at a high level, but often in a casual, relaxed dining atmosphere”.Michael ELLIS, the International Director of the Michelin guides.
Michelin have released their latest addition to the guides with the2016 edition of the Michelin Guide Main Cities of Europe, which features the best hotels and restaurants in 44 major cities, spread throughout 20 European countries.The new Michelin guide shines a spotlight on not only the incredible choice of dining establishments, but also the impressive new additionsthat Europe’s major cities have to offer, showing theamazing progress that the citieshavemade over the last tenyears.
The35th edition of the guide features a considerable number of newly honoured restaurants, including the newly starred restaurants in Austria, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, as well asreflecting the vibrancy and diversity of the culinary scene in Europe’s major cities.
In this new edition, 5 restaurants have been awarded three stars, including Le Cinq and Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in Paris, Geranium in Copenhagen, The Table Kevin Fehling in Hamburg and Maaemo in Oslo. This brings the total number of three Starred restaurants in the guide to 19. A further15 restaurants have been awarded two Stars, including Mraz&Sohn in Vienna, Ikarus and SENNS in Salzburg, and also 5 restaurants in Paris and 2 in London, bringing the total number in the guide up to 88 two stars restaurants. One star restaurants total48 in the new guide, including Field in Prague, taking the city’s count up to 3, and Senses in Warsaw; the city’s second starred restaurant. Budapest’s newest one Star, Costes Downtown is now one of five starred restaurants in the Hungarian capital.
Editor of the MICHELIN guide Main Cities of Europe 2016, Rebecca Burr said “It’s great to see so many new Stars awarded this year, especially to restaurants in these emerging cities. Year on year our team of full-time inspectors add to the enormous selection of hotels and restaurants in the guide, in every category of price and style. In the 2016 edition there are 1,333 hotels and 2,312 restaurants in total.”
Also very popular with our readers are those restaurants awarded a Bib Gourmand for their simple style of cooking and their value for money. There are 55 new Bib Gourmand awards across all the countries this year, bringing the total in the guide up to 296.
Written in English, the MICHELIN Guide Main Cities of Europe is intended to be used by business travellers and tourists visiting leading European cities. Here they may wish to find, for example, a spa hotel, a hotel near a convention centre, a restaurant in which to entertain clients, or an affordable city centre bistro. The guide also features a wealth of other useful information, including city maps showing the exact location of all recommended hotels and restaurants, keywords to describe each establishment’s style and easy-to-read practical and tourist information on each city.