Geranium got its star! Finally.
It’s official! The red Michelin Guide for the Main Cities of Europe 2012 sends 14 stars to Copenhagen restaurants in this year’s guide!
The three new ones are Geranium, Den Røde Cottage, Grønbech & Churchill and Relæ which had a Bib Gourmand last year.
Quite disappointingly Noma remains with 2 stars, and as The Paul closed in 2011 we lost that star.
Compared to 11 stars in 2011 and 13 in 2010 the 14 stars is a great step forward for Copenhagen and tangents the maximum total of 14 stars in 2009. 🙂
Congratulations!
Two stars:
Noma **
One star:
AOC *
Den Røde Cottage * New
Era Ora *
formel B *
Geranium * New
Grønbech & Churchill * New
Herman *
Kiin Kiin *
Kokkeriet *
Kong Hans’ Kælder *
Relæ * New
Søllerød Kro *
Source: Politiken
It baffles me that anyone could actually think that Noma is worthy of a third Michelin star – because it quite simply isn’t .. in fact it is questionable whether it even maintains the consistency that is required to deserve a second star.
Noma has a novelty value and its novelty value is maintained by being a small restaurant that can’t satisfy demand – hence the San Pellegrino award which, contrary to popular misunderstanding is an accolade for being the restaurant that most members of the Academy want to eat at (i.e. not specifically for being the best) .. and a much talked about restaurant with only 20 seats, when there are 867 members of the voting academy, is going to have that demand for quite a long time.
Take away the bizarre nationalistic pride that some attach to Noma’s reputation and the restaurant really isn’t all that .. in fact, even just in Copenhagen, there are very many massively superior restaurants to Noma.
You’re quite right, JC, I think.
Good to see you back here! 🙂
Maybe the Michelin people are still too enamored with luxury ingredients that Noma doesn’t use…? It’s pretty clear the guide has certain biases that now seem outdated; perhaps that’s one of them.
I’d say even the one-star restaurants in Copenhagen are probably better than most of the former two-star restaurants in LA (Urasawa being the exception, of course 😉 ), so that shows you how messed up Michelin is.
On the question of why Noma got 2 stars and not 3, Michelin chief editor Rebacca Burr said it’s about consistency, taste and ingredients to make the 3 stars, mentioned in the Danish newspaper Politiken yesterday. So, a small part of how Michelin judge has been revealed a bit of their secret. Still, I don’t get it though.
NOMA not getting 3 is unfathomable. Look at so many names with 2 stars all over the world, and NOMA just doesn’t belong there, isnt it?
Went to Geranium in January upon your recommendation, and i’d say definitely 2star material.
THink michelin is not receptive enough with the good things happening down in Copenhagen.
I think that Noma is definitely worth 3 stars,it’s a pity that Michelin doesn’t think so..
Really good news for Copenhagen.
It’s just sad that the rest of Denmark is neglected. There is so many good restaurant around. But its still good to see so many stars 😀
Hey Simon,
Thanks very much for your charming words! And indeed it’s great and well-deserved for Relæ. Really great! 🙂 🙂
Hi Trine,
That’s fantastic news for Copenhagen, I am particularly excited about the awarding of a star to Relæ! I had read the post from your dinner there and I was so impressed with their forward thinking cuisine.
I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that I have followed your blog for nearly a year now and would like to thank you for all your wonderful posts and fantastic pictures! 🙂
keep up the good work!