Michelin is coming to Australia, following suspected multimillion-dollar deal

The Michelin Guide is coming to South Australia to publish its first Australian edition next year, after the state government brokered a multimillion-dollar deal that Tourism Australia twice declined.

The official selection for the Michelin Guide South Australia 2027 will be revealed at a launch event in Adelaide in October, the French tyre company announced today. It plans to send restaurant inspectors to review fine-dining restaurants within their star and Bib Gourmand (value) rating system, with results to be published exclusively online.

As reported by the Financial Review, the move comes after 10 years of pitching the Michelin Guide to Australian tourism bodies including Tourism Australia, which turned down a $40 million, five-year deal that would have started at $4 million in the first year and scaled to $7.5 million annually. Tourism Australia declined the deal, stating it would promote Australian restaurants “within existing market priorities and budgets”.

South Australia’s Minister for Tourism Emily Bourke said Michelin would give the state’s hospitality sector international recognition, but it is unclear how much South Australia paid Michelin for the privilege.

“Our state sits atop the nation’s foodie must-visit list,” she said.

“South Australia offers a vibrant calendar of food festivals and wine events, celebrating culinary excellence, from city dining experiences to regional gourmet celebrations, and we look forward to sharing this with Michelin Guide readers around the world.”

Michelin launched its inaugural restaurant guide in 1900, as French tyre manufacturers Édouard and Andre Michelin sought to encourage diners to wear out their tyres.

Its global expansion is largely funded by tourism boards: Tourism New Zealand paid around $2.5 million in its first year of partnership, while The Tourism Authority of Thailand spent roughly $6.7 million for its inaugural guide.

Michelin enters a hospitality landscape that has been mapped by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Good Food Guides since 1984. Its chefs hats remain the country’s most influential restaurant honours, with three hats considered the equivalent of three-Michelin-starred restaurants overseas.

South Australian restaurants were represented in the national Good Food Guide, which ran for three years, until the greater economic pressures of the pandemic period led to a consolidation of coverage. Highly scored venues included Penfolds Magill Estate and now-closed Restaurant Orana.

Since 2021, the NSW and Victorian Good Food Guides have focused on expanding their coverage of regional and metropolitan restaurants, with greater diversity of price points.

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide co-editor Callan Boys said he welcomed professional, well-researched restaurant criticism in Australia and looked forward to seeing South Australian restaurants compete on the world stage.

“For all its perceived faults of being an outdated scoring system and preferring hifalutin French-style dining over how most people want to eat these days, Michelin has always been rigorous in its review process,” he said.

Hospitality-industry body Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association praised the South Australian government for recognising hospitality as a major economic driver at a time of immense economic pressure.

“At a time when restaurants and cafes continue to face enormous pressures from rising wages, energy costs, rents, insurance and workforce shortages, announcements like this are critically important because they reinforce hospitality’s value to Australia’s economy, tourism sector and cultural identity,” said chief executive Wes Lambert.

Lambert called for a national rollout of the Michelin Guide to cement the Australian hospitality scene as an international dining destination.

Given the cost of implementing the Michelin Guide in other countries, Boys called for robust data from comparable markets to support the investment.

“Will it actually draw significant numbers of tourists to South Australia, and increase local spend at restaurants with one or more Michelin stars? Or will it mainly exist to stroke the egos of a few chefs and winery owners?” he said.

“The government should absolutely support the hospitality industry, but that investment should lead to measurable, positive impact for restaurants, bars and cafes across the board, not a relatively small number of ‘Michelin worthy’ destinations.”