I have some exciting news to share! Next year, we are launching the 360° Eat Guide in the Nordics – a completely new way to evaluate restaurants. The experienced Swedish restaurant reviewer Pär Bergkvist is the initiator of what will be the first restaurant guide in the world ranking both gastronomy and sustainability. Make sure to follow the guide on Instagram! Over 250 restaurants all over the Nordic region will be ranked in a digital guide. The work starts already this month, and the first ever guide will be released in the summer of 2019. The jury consists of around 20 of the most influential food writers in the Nordic region and each country is represented by a chairman. I will be the chairman of Norway, and my first task has been to put together a Norwegian jury. On my team, I have selected wine blogger Linn Johnsen and barista and beer sommelier André Brandt. Both are experienced diners who know the Nordic dining scene very well. Transparency and openness are keywords for 360°, as opposed to other guides, both jury and criteria will be made public.
Ranking Restaurants on Gastronomy & Sustainability
– The clock is ticking, yet way too few restaurants take sustainability issues seriously enough. At the same time, restaurant guests don’t make demands that are tough enough, we trust the restaurants to take responsibility for the food that’s being served – but in reality, very few do, says Pär.
Whereas traditional restaurant guides only rate food, drink, and service, 360° takes an utterly necessary step to rate the entirety – including to which extent the restaurant focuses on the origin and traceability of products, food waste, education of staff regarding sustainability matters, more plant-based foods on the menu, a seasonal focus and sustainable meat and fish.
– For 360° – as well as the guest – the gastronomy will always number one during a restaurant visit. The food needs to be excellent, but it’s also time we all started to evaluate how the restaurant works with sustainability issues. We need to open our eyes – no excuses can be made anymore. That’s why we choose to start at the top, by rating the best, most famous and most acclaimed Nordic restaurants – in other words, those we think should act as role models, not least regarding these matters, concludes Pär Bergkvist.
360° Eat Guide will be produced by Restaurangvärlden – Sweden’s leading restaurant business magazine. Partners include WWF (World Wildlife Fund) – the international non-governmental organization that works for wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment, as well as KRAV – the Swedish organization that develops and maintains regulations for ecologically sustainable agriculture. For press inquiries, please contact Pär Bergkvist at +46 703184543 or par (@) bergkvistpublishing.se.
Chairman, Nordic region: Pär Bergkvist
The initiator of 360° and CEO at Bergkvist Publishing, the company behind the guide. Publisher at Restaurangvärlden, BAKA, White Guide Junior and White Guide Green; author of five cookbooks.
Chairman, Sweden: Pia Bendel
Editor in chief at business magazines Restaurangvärlden and BAKA at Bergkvist Publishing. Formerly editor in chief at Mat & Vänner, Vin & Bar Journalen, and alltomat.se and editor at Gourmet and Aperitif.
Chairman, Finland: Pauliina Siniauer
Restaurant critic formerly at Helsingin Sanomat, Radio Helsinki, Saveur and NBC News. Has studied food journalism in Helsinki, Berlin and New York. Currently works at The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Chairman, Denmark: Rasmus Palsgård
In 2015, at the age of 26, Rasmus Palsgård became the youngest member of The Danish Food Critic Association. Founder of blog Finschmeckeren and a regular contributor to several leading, Danish gastronomy magazines.
Chairman, Norway: Anders Husa
Anders Husa is a marketer, food writer, and photographer based in Oslo. Through the work of his restaurant and travel blog, he has dined at some of the best restaurants in Scandinavia and around the world. He is a regular contributor to the Norwegian food magazine Appetitt and has his own TV series on Matkanalen.
What are your thoughts on the new guide? Please share your opinion in the comments below.
Jury photos: Lars Jansson
An unusual article, I, as a teacher of culinary school, liked it very much. Because these are really amazing ways to evaluate restaurants.
Happy to hear that!
This sounds like elitist snobbery of the worst kind that basically just will make both offering and acquiring a good meal more expensive, and make entry into the market of new players more difficult – a restaurant has no more obligation to live up to your vague definition of sustainability than you as a blogger are responsible for if your blog is hosted on a solar powered datacenter or not.
Why stop at sustainability, when you could rate the restaurants on male/female equality, share of union workers, or charity donations – it just has little to do with a delicious meal. I would rather have a value delicious meal made of cheap non-organic ingredients with chefs turning lead into gold, than having my expensive mediocre meal explained by that its ingredients fit into a definition of sustainability made by smug hipsters (one wearing a bow tie when being under 50?).
Sorry to hear you feel that way, Erik. I think you have missed the point of this.
Mr (self titled) Chairman
This is the first time I read your blog and can’t believe what you are writing…
So a restaurant review may conclude that I will love the food and service, but should be ashamed to bring my friends there because the staff lack sustainability matter education?
I don’t doubt this was invented by the guy with the 100 000 SEK watch, because it just is so politically correct rich person nonsense – just too bad for all the restaurants you are going to kill. I’ll do what I can to mobilize against this snobbery.
No, this has nothing to do with being ashamed to dine anywhere. We only want to inspire restaurants to focus more on sustainability. Also, calm down.
Hello Anders (et al. who follow this) –
I wanted to comment on the initiative without hiding behind a pseudonym or criticizing something we know nothing about quite yet. Having spent much time in the restaurant business and invested a lot of time researching how one might define sustainability, I can say without hesitation that without expressly explaining your scoring system (ergo, complete transparency), it will be just more smoke and mirrors and without value to people who want to go out while supporting businesses that embrace environmentally friendly practices. I also wanted to address EN’s comment that “I would rather have a value delicious meal made of cheap non-organic ingredients with chefs turning lead into gold,” That, alas, is nonsense. Chefs may be talented (and vastly too self-important) but they are not alchemists. You have to use stellar ingredients to create great food. No more no less. Here, too, I speak from experience having created a RSA (like a CSA [community supported agriculture] but for restaurants) which sourced directly from a Biodynamic farm. Use of poor, chemically farmed meat and vegetables shipped vast distances does not a great restaurant make. ‘Nuff said.
Hi Mark. Thanks for not being anonymous. That is also the goal for the new guide. We intend to operate with transparency. The criteria will be public. I agree with your points about quality ingredients.
An unusual article, I, as a teacher of culinary school, liked it very much. Because these are really amazing ways to evaluate restaurants.
It’s really the future of food, and the future of the world!