More than three years of bringing Michelin Guide to Vietnam

Michelin Guide's journey to Vietnam to "find pearls" among hundreds of restaurants was initiated more than three years ago, and has been nurtured for more than 15 years.

"If we talk about the dream of bringing Michelin Guide to Vietnam, we have dreamed of it for a long time," Ms. Nguyen Vu Quynh Anh, General Director of Sun Hospitality Group, told VnExpress , one day after Michelin Guide announced the honors for 103 restaurants and individuals in 4 categories: Michelin Stars, Michelin Selected, Bib Gourmand (delicious restaurants with affordable prices) and Michelin Guide Special Awards. In the most prestigious star category, they found 4 one-star restaurants, on Michelin's three-star scale, including Anan Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City; Gia, Hibana by Koki and Tam Vi, all in Hanoi .

Ms. Nguyen Vu Quynh Anh, General Director of Sun Hospitality Group. Photo: Giang Huy

This "dream" has been nurtured since Sun Group invested in the resort tourism sector about 16 years ago. They started by inviting chef Pierre Gagnaire, once voted as one of the best chefs in the world, with experience running a three-Michelin-star restaurant, to build a restaurant at their 5-star resort in Da Nang when it first opened. But that was not enough, Vietnam did not have a Michelin-star restaurant, although it was highly appreciated by international guests for its cuisine.

It was not until more than three years ago that the first talks with Michelin Guide representatives were initiated and they received the sharing that "if Vietnam wants to be rated Michelin stars, it needs a companion to bring Michelin back". Michelin Guide, the world's most prestigious culinary rating organization, operates as a non-profit organization. In other countries, the sponsorship and bringing of Michelin Guide is carried out by state agencies, because the costs of carrying out evaluation and appraisal activities are very high.

According to Ms. Quynh Anh, at that time, Michelin assessed that Vietnamese cuisine had potential but was not "mature" enough and there were bottlenecks in implementation costs. "Maturity" here means service quality, raw material supply chain, food hygiene and safety...

"We aspire for Vietnamese cuisine to have a worthy position on the world map. The fastest way to do this is for our cuisine to be evaluated according to international standards such as the Michelin Guide," said Ms. Quynh Anh.

Meetings began but were immediately halted when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, causing a crisis for the entire tourism industry. Six months after Vietnam's tourism reopened, Michelin Guide announced that its appraisers had visited Vietnam and found it "ripe".

Ms. Quynh Anh said that business difficulties due to the impact of Covid put the group under great pressure. However, the "desire to elevate Vietnamese cuisine" has urged Sun Group to make a decision. In December 2022, with the companionship of Sun Group, Michelin Guide officially launched in Vietnam, starting to evaluate the quality of dining establishments in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Diners dine at Hibana by Koki restaurant - which has just been awarded a Michelin star. Photo: Giang Huy

According to its rules, the Michelin Guide does not commit to "elevating Vietnamese cuisine", as it does in any country it has visited. However, figures from an independent audit firm show that the Michelin Guide has a positive impact on the entire culinary and tourism industry.

The late chef Joel Robuchon, who holds the most Michelin stars in the world, told Food & Wine magazine in 2017 about the value of Michelin stars. One Michelin star increases restaurant sales by 20%, two stars by 40%, and three stars by 100%.

Gwendal Poullennec, international director of Michelin Guide, said that for a year they sent appraisers to all over Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to evaluate the quality of dining establishments. They are trained, experienced in the restaurant and cooking industry and are full-time professionals. Each person eats out about 300 times a year, regardless of day or night, and will not return to ensure fairness. They sample dishes, enjoy different cooking styles, and visit many restaurants from high-end to popular.

Restaurants must meet five criteria that are universally accepted: food quality, culinary skill, flavor harmony, the chef's personality expressed through the food, and the consistency of the food over time and across the entire menu.

Ms. Quynh Anh commented that this is how the Michelin Guide "maintained its reputation for over 100 years". The identity of the appraisers and their appraisal process were kept secret, even from colleagues at the Michelin Guide, until the award ceremony on the evening of June 6.

When the restaurants were honored, besides the congratulations, there were controversies such as many delicious restaurants and eateries were left out, or one of the four Michelin-starred restaurants is located in the Capella Hanoi Hotel - owned by Sun Group. However, according to the representative of the Michelin Guide, this is a normal reaction, even in Japan, the wave of protests in the first year of its launch was even more fierce, when this edition lacked long-standing restaurants. To date, the number of 2-3 star restaurants in Japan is even greater, with Tokyo alone having 200 star restaurants by 2022.

The debate will contribute to raising awareness about the industry, about Vietnamese cuisine and the world, restaurants have focused on improving professionalism in all aspects, because they understand the benefits of this star, the Michelin representative shared.

The space of Hibana by Koki restaurant (left photo) and chef Yamaguchi Hiroshi (right photo) were personally selected by Mr. Yoshida. Photo: Giang Huy

"When you decide to do something that no one has done before, you have to accept the risk. Even if a Sun Group restaurant gets a Michelin star, public opinion will definitely think that it will be obvious," said Ms. Quynh Anh, emphasizing, "We are completely confident that Hibana by Koki is the number one Japanese restaurant in Vietnam right now because it was set up according to the standards of a Michelin restaurant from the beginning!"

Sun Group has worked hard to recruit chef Junichi Yoshida to join the restaurant's development from the very beginning. He is the chef of the only teppanyaki restaurant in Tokyo to receive a Michelin star and is still an advisor to Hibana by Koki, in charge of all stages from recruitment, training, menu planning, ingredient selection and restaurant quality supervision.

"This is a completely worthy achievement for our early methodical investment efforts," Ms. Quynh Anh emphasized.

Meanwhile, four restaurants that received stars reported a surge in bookings. Tam Vi Restaurant said it was fully booked the first morning after receiving the award. Chef Sam Tran of Gia had to stop taking reservations in the middle of the day due to high bookings and a desire to serve customers attentively.

Gwendal Poullennec said the 103 restaurants honored are just the first list in Vietnam. Each year, the Michelin Guide team continues to bring new lists in line with the development of the local culinary industry, with the companionship of Sun Group for at least the first 5 years.

"The launch of the Michelin Guide in Vietnam shows the highest international recognition for our country's cuisine. It is a worthy position for the Vietnamese culinary industry on the world map. I believe this will be a lever for Vietnamese tourism to attract more high-end customers and food enthusiasts around the world," culinary artist Anh Tuyet shared.

Anh Tu

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/hon-ba-nam-dua-michelin-guide-ve-viet-nam-4615576.html