The new edition of the Nordic Michelin guide will be released on Monday, June 12th, 2023. Stars and special awards will be handed out to the top restaurants in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and the Faroe Islands. Currently, there are a total of 255 restaurants featured in the Nordic guide, with 28 starred restaurants in Denmark, 18 starred restaurants in Sweden, 14 starred restaurants in Norway, six starred restaurants in Finland, and two starred restaurants in Iceland. This year’s festivities will take place in Turku, Finland, where Gwendal Poullennec, the International Director of the Michelin Guide, will present the new Nordic star restaurants from the event venue Logomo. The event will also be live-streamed from Michelin’s YouTube channel beginning at 18:00 CEST.
If you want to hear our live updates with all the last-minute rumors, industry secrets, and insights, be sure to join The Hungries! Like every year, we will be having a virtual watch party together and discussing all things Michelin on the Discord forum. #TheHungriesKnowFirst
Predictions: Michelin Guide Nordic 2023
It’s become an annual tradition for us to predict who will get stars in the release of the Nordic Michelin Guide. (See our 2022 predictions here.) So, who do we think will get stars this year? Keep reading to see our 2023 Michelin predictions.
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Denmark
Total listings: 96 Bib Gourmand: 15 Total stars: 28 restaurants, 40 stars ⭐⭐⭐ 2 ⭐⭐ 8 ⭐ 18 🍀 14
We think 2023 is the year that Kristian Baumann will get his Michelin star back. Baumann received a star at his previous restaurant, 108, which closed in 2020. During the pandemic, he created his next project: Koan, a Korean-inspired fine dining restaurant. It started as a pop-up in the Empirical distillery, moved to the former Relæ venue temporarily, and finally opened in its permanent home on Langelinie in April this year. In the new space, Baumann’s vision has been exacted, and his cooking has never been more precise and delicious than it is right now. That means, with only two months of service under its belt, Koan is set to earn the fastest-ever Michelin star in history in the Nordics if it receives the distinction on June 12th.
In Copenhagen we are also crossing our fingers for Sushi Anaba. Mads Battefeld’s omakase counter rivals the top sushi meals we have experienced in Japan and is, without a doubt, a Michelin star candidate. You won’t find a better omakase restaurant than this in the Nordics. Will this finally be the year that Anaba gets their well-deserved star?
We have no doubt that restaurant Alchemist will one day join the prestigious three-star league, and we hope that this is their year. Alchemist was added to the guide for the first time (with two stars) in 2020, and usually Michelin allows a few years between an upgrade from two to three stars. Noma, for example, had to work a full thirteen years before it got its third. We can attest that three years after entering the guide, chef Rasmus Munk’s food is tastier and more creative than ever, and, in our opinion, completely worthy of Michelin’s top ranking. Alchemist is one of the best restaurants in the world.
Jordnær is another three-star candidate in Copenhagen. Eric Vildgaard’s caviar and truffle-topped dishes are right up Michelin’s alley, and ours as well – one of his decadent bites even landed on our Best Dishes of 2022 list last year. But Michelin usually likes to spread out the big awards, so we’d be surprised (but happy!) if both Alchemist and Jordnær got upgraded to three stars this year. Our fingers are crossed!
Outside of Copenhagen in Vejle, one-Michelin-starred restaurant Lyst has been operating at a two-Michelin-star level for the last few years. We think this is certainly a spectacular restaurant worth making a detour for – does Michelin agree? Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to travel much elsewhere in Denmark this year, so we don’t have any other strong predictions outside of the capital.
Norway
Total listings: 48 Bib Gourmand: 3 Stars: 14 restaurants, 17 stars ⭐⭐⭐ 1 ⭐⭐ 1 ⭐ 12 🍀 7
For the past few years, we have hoped that fine dining restaurant À L’aise would get awarded a star, but the Michelin Guide had other plans. After a fantastic meal at À L’aise in December, we believe that chef Ulrik Jepsen is at the top of his game – the food has never been stronger. So, this year, we’re confident that the guide will right their previous wrongs and give this deserving restaurant a place in their guide. You heard us right – 2023 will be the year that À L’aise snags this long-awaited accolade.
We also think that Mon Oncle, the decadent new French restaurant from chef Esben Holmboe Bang (of three-Michelin-starred Maaemo), is extremely star-worthy. Our meal there last year was fantastic – Mon Oncle is one of the best new additions to Oslo’s food scene. The hyper-sustainable restaurant Rest, which uses solely food waste and leftovers to craft a tasting menu, is another candidate we think worthy of a star. We also loved the tasting menus at both Apostrophe and Hedone, but we’re not sure if these concepts are on Michelin’s star radar, given their more laidback nature. However, given that Hyde got a star last year, it’s not impossible – let’s see!
Outside of the capital, our fingers are crossed for both Speilsalen and Credo in Trondheim. Our recent meals at these restaurants were absolutely fantastic and solidified our belief that both are deserving of an additional star. Executive head chef Christopher Davidsen recently left Speilsalen, but he left it in the capable hands of Håkon Solbakk, who has been the head chef of the restaurant for the past four years. Since Solbakk had such an influential role in obtaining Speilsalen’s first star, we are confident that the restaurant will retain their star; but there’s a chance that a change in head chef will delay the arrival of the second star. Chef Heidi Bjerkan opened Credo in 1998, and the restaurant was awarded their first star in 2019. Bjerkan has really found her groove in the last couple of years; Credo is better than ever, and operating at the two-Michelin-star level. This is a must-visit restaurant in Norway.
In Stavanger, we were wowed by our meal at Tango this winter. Tango has always been considered one of the city’s top restaurants, but now with chef Jan-Erik Hauge back at the helm, the food is even more delicious. We believe that Tango will be the next restaurant in the region to earn a Michelin star. Two-star restaurant Re-naa is the most obvious choice to upgrade to three stars in Norway – but Michelin might think it’s still too early, considering that the second star came in 2020. But there’s no doubt in our minds that a third star is coming soon for Sven Erik Renaa and his team.
Further north, we think Kvitnes Gård in Vesterålen is on the path to a star – although it’s likely still too soon. Our sources have indicated that the Michelin inspectors have not yet visited chef Halvar Ellingsen’s remote farm restaurant.
Sweden
Total listings: 67 Bib Gourmand: 11 Total stars: 18 restaurants, 22 stars ⭐⭐⭐ 1 ⭐⭐ 2 ⭐ 15 🍀 7
The fine dining segment in Stockholm was hard hit last year, with the sad closures of Michelin-starred restaurants Oaxen Krog, Gastrologik, and Agrikultur. With the loss of two two-Michelin-starred restaurants and a one-Michelin-starred restaurant, there’s quite a void to be filled. We’re hoping there is a shower of stars on Stockholm this year!
Our top bets for new stars in Sweden are upgrades for restaurants AIRA and Operakällaren, both of which have one star and are incredibly deserving of two. We had fantastic meals at both of these restaurants last year, and firmly believe that they are two of the most exciting eateries in Scandinavia. Chef Tommy Myllymäki and chef Viktor Westerlind are both exceptionally talented, serving food at an extremely high level in spectacular venues – it’s not a question of when these restaurants will get upgraded, but when.
Finland
Total listings: 24 Bib Gourmand: 2 Total stars: 6 restaurants, 7 stars ⭐⭐⭐ 0 ⭐⭐ 1 ⭐ 5 🍀 3
Anders and I finally visited Helsinki together for the first time this spring! Of course, we did our best to visit all the best restaurants in Finland’s capital, and made a guide highlighting our favorite spots. We visited Palace, which got upgraded to two stars last year, and also restaurant Grön, which we think is the next two-star candidate in Helsinki. Chef Toni Kostian and his team are serving some of the tastiest and most interesting bites in the Nordics, and we are crossing our fingers they get their second star at the awards this year.
Iceland
Total listings: 5 Bib Gourmand: 0 Total stars: 2 restaurants, 2 stars ⭐⭐⭐ 0 ⭐⭐ 0 ⭐ 2 🍀 1
Last year, we predicted that speakeasy chef’s counter restaurant ÓX in Reykjavík would get a star – and it did! This year, chef Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson moved his restaurant to a new venue, and it looks better than ever. We hope to go back to Reykjavík later this year to check it out. We haven’t heard about any other Michelin candidates in Iceland, so we doubt there will be any new Michelin stars in this region this year.
Who do you think will get stars this year? Let us know in a comment below.
I can definitely see Aira getting it’s second star this year. If not, then next year would be my best bet. Would be exciting too to see Mathias Dahlgren’s Matbaren get it’s star back… but that’s purely based on my own bias, as it’s more likely a dark horse at best.
Anyways, Alchemist finally getting awarded three Michelin Stars would be awesome. Just from looking at images and videos taken from the place, the food is unreal.
Should be exciting to see what happens this monday.
As always, keep up the great work, guys!
Fingers crossed!
Sorry to say, but to consider Operakällaren for 2 stars is… weird. My meal, except for great desserts, was barely one star level (including some dishes you had, as well). I find your evaluation truly puzzling. Still love your page, though!
Anyway: La Ragazza is highly deserving of a star!
How funny! Sounds like we had very different experiences – the desserts there were the weakest dishes of the meal for us. But we haven’t been back since last summer. We enjoyed La Ragazza a lot as well! Thanks for the comment. 🙂
Ragazza in Stockholm unless the guide noticed the change of concept and Patrik leaving.
Chances are they did! Is the new concept at the same level, in your opinion?
Without Patrik and with the Flickan team joining my guess is that it will be more Dos Pallilos and kitchen bar and less classic fine dining but still at the star level.
To me Adam/Albin in Stockholm is on a 2 star level, however unlikely lifted this year, since they got first (long overdue) star last year.
Persona in Stockholm looks very promising!
Will be exciting to see the announcements on Monday!
Thanks for a great job with all you do for the sake of good food, Kaitlin and Anders!
We agree with all of this! They’re totally already at a two-star level. Fingers crossed for next year for them. 🙂
We are eager to visit Persona ourselves. And thanks a lot for the nice words!
Credo is cool and has the format of a two-star, but they are far from the palate of a two-star. Not a single true wow moment when I visited last year.
That’s too bad! At our meal in October, every single bite was a wow! One of the best meals of the year for us.
I visited them in June 2022. Here´s my review if you´re interested 🙂
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g190499-d13003072-r843601965-Credo_restaurant-Trondheim_Trondheim_Municipality_Trondelag_Central_Norway.html
I visited Speilsalen a couple of weeks ago, and in my taste, they are a more likely candidate to hit two stars first.
It will be interesting to see if they will keep the star at ÓX after moving. In the matter of Dill, I know Gunnar Karl will not have relaxed to keep the star after they sadly lost it after his move to New York. I have yet to dine at their new location but hope to one day.
Crossing fingers that both will keep their stars!
Greetings A & K . Just a quick heads up concerning Plah in Oslo . Heard a whisper concerning a star but not sure, could have just been a careless one ! Must say food is rather scrumptious ! Thai food on the Michelin radar ?Thoughts ?
Always a great read so many thanks for your contribution to the love of eateries.
Dominic
Exciting! We are eager to test it out.