For more than a century, the famous red guide from France never came to Australia. That changed this week, when Michelin handed out the country’s first stars ever, and every single one of them went to restaurants in South Australia.
Eleven venues made the cut. Magill Estate Restaurant, set among the vines at Rosslyn Park on the edge of Adelaide, was the only one to earn two stars. Ten others received one star each, among them the open-fire kitchen of Arkhé in Norwood, Aptos in Stirling with its tasting menus built around native Australian ingredients, and wine-country addresses such as Hentley Farm in the Barossa, Maxwell in McLaren Vale and Skillogalee Barrel House in the Clare Valley. More than seventy further South Australian restaurants appear in the wider guide, some under the Bib Gourmand label for good food at friendlier prices.
Why only one state? Michelin had reportedly tried to bring its guide to Australia through the national tourism body more than once without success. South Australia’s government decided not to wait any longer, struck its own deal and paid for anonymous inspectors to tour the state. It has not said how much that cost, but Tourism Minister Emily Bourke argues the money puts the region on the world map for food-loving travellers. New Zealand took a similar route earlier this year and became the first place in Oceania to appear in the guide.
For Magill’s chef and owner Scott Huggins, who trained in starred kitchens in Europe and Japan, the moment fulfils a childhood dream. For the rest of Australia, especially food capitals such as Sydney and Melbourne, it raises a fair question: will they now pay to be judged too?
