Australia Gets Its First Michelin Stars, All 11 in South Australia

Australia has its first Michelin stars, and every one of them is in South Australia. The inaugural Michelin Guide for the state, announced on Wednesday, gave two stars to Magill Estate Restaurant near Adelaide and one star each to 10 other restaurants. No restaurant took three stars.

Magill Estate sits above the Penfolds vineyards at the foot of the Adelaide Hills. Its executive chef, Scott Huggins, serves a 10 course tasting menu built around Australian produce, with wine at the centre of the meal. It is now the only two star restaurant in the country.

The 10 one star restaurants are Anvers Restaurant, Maxwell Restaurant, Botanic, Arkhe, Esmay, Aurora at ILA, Hentley Farm, LVN Restaurant at Bird in Hand, Aptos and Skillogalee Barrel House. They run from the Adelaide city centre to wine country in McLaren Vale, the Barossa and the Clare Valley. Arkhe, in Norwood, cooks over open fire. Aptos builds its tasting menu around native Australian ingredients.

The wider guide lists 77 South Australian restaurants in total. Sixteen took Bib Gourmand awards, which mark good cooking at a moderate price, and 50 more were named as Michelin Selected. The guide also gave three special awards, for a young chef, for service and for a sommelier.

Why only one state

The answer is money and persistence. South Australia's government paid for Michelin's anonymous inspectors to visit the state, according to the national broadcaster ABC, which is why no restaurants in other states were judged. The state has not said how much it paid. Tourism Minister Emily Bourke defended the spending to ABC, arguing that the guide puts the state on the world food map.

Michelin had approached Australia's national tourism board about a guide several times over the years, with no result. South Australia decided to go ahead on its own and struck its own deal.

The move follows Michelin's arrival in New Zealand in July, when that country became the first in Oceania to join the guide. New Zealand agreed to pay 6.3 million New Zealand dollars over three years for its place in the guide.

A century in the making

The Michelin Guide began in France in 1900, as a handbook to encourage drivers to travel. Its stars, introduced in 1926, became one of the most sought after honours in cooking. One star marks high quality cooking, two stars mark cooking worth a detour, and three stars are kept for cooking worth a special journey.

For South Australian chefs, the wait is over. The state's restaurants have cooked with local produce and native ingredients for years without the guide. They now hold the country's first stars, and the rest of Australia is still waiting for its turn.