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Stavanger sushi master wins first Michelin star

A restaurant in Stavanger which turns the freshest fish from the Norwegian Sea into Nordic-style edomae sushi has won a Michelin star.

Published: 22 February 2017 16:59 CET

Stavanger sushi master wins first Michelin star

Roger Askil from Sabi Omakase picks up his one star in Stockholm. Photo: Jessica Gow / TT / NTB scanpix

Sabi Omakase was awarded the star by the Michelin Guide’s international editor Michael Ellis at an event in Stockholm on Monday.

“I’m really overwhelmed by this recognition. This gives me new impetus to further develop Nordic edomae,” said sushi chef Roger Asakil Joy, who co-owns the restaurant with Njål Gaute Solland and Arild Ash Bringeland.

The star was awarded at an event in Stockholm on Wednesday Michael Ellis, the international director of the Michelin Guide.

Sabi Omakase follows Stavanger’s Star RE-NAA, which picked up its first Michelin Star in last year’s guide.

Oslo’s Maemo retained the three stars it was awarded in 2016, putting it among the top 118 restaurants in the world.

“I feel as if it isn’t that we have retained the stars, but that we've won them again,” said Maaemo head chef Esben Holmboe Bang said as he was awarded the three stars for a second year.

Statholdergaarden and Contrast in Oslo also retained their single Michelin stars.

This year’s awards saw Michelin branching out to the outer fringes of the Nordic countries, with KOKS in the Faroe Islands that receiving a Michelin Star, and Dill in Reykjavik receiving Iceland’s first star.

Copenhagen’s restaurant scene still leads the Nordic countries, according to the guide, with fifteen starred restaurants, followed by Stockholm with nine and Gothenburg with seven.

Oslo, with one three-star restaurant and two one star restaurant was just ahead of Malmö, Sweden’s third city, which boasts one two star restaurant and two one-star restaurants, and just behind Helsinki, which has four one-star restaurants.

Michelin unveils Covid-era France picks despite criticism

Auberge du Pont de Collonges. Photo: AFP

Three-star chefs can rest easy, however, after Michelin said none will be demoted as the health crisis rages.

The industry bible's boss Gwendal Poullennec defended inspections that led to 57 new stars overall, even though restaurants remain shuttered after lockdowns imposed last spring and again since October.

“It's an important decision to support the industry, despite the current situation and perhaps even because of the situation,” Poullennec told AFP.

“All the establishments that have kept their star this year or won one are restaurants that fully deserve it,” he said.

READ MORE: Michelin calls off its 2021 France ceremony, but insists there will still be a guide

Michelin has drawn fire for bestowing its verdicts as chefs rack up losses while adapting their menus for takeaway or deliveries — and food fans have little chance of booking tables anytime soon, with or without face masks.

The rival Best 50 list, based in Britain, cancelled its 2020 ranking last year, while France's La Liste said this month that instead of rankings it would honour innovative chefs who have persevered amid the pandemic.

Michelin called off the lavish gala ceremony that was to be held in Cognac, southwest France – the first time outside Paris – and instead will announce the 2021 winners in a YouTube broadcast from the Eiffel Tower.

'Consistent quality'

But Poullennec said all three-star restaurants will keep their stars – France including Monaco counts 29 – while the handful of demotions will affect only restaurants that have closed or changed their dining concept.

He insisted that inspectors worked double duty and even cancelled their sacrosanct summer holidays to eat and drink as much as possible when restaurants were allowed to open under strict virus restrictions between France's lockdowns.

Michelin also brought in inspectors from elsewhere in Europe and even Asia to back up the French team.

“This selection has been made with the same serious attention, and inspectors were able to judge as many meals as the previous year,” he said.

“Despite the difficulties, chefs have risen to the occasion and maintained consistent quality, at times even succeeding in making further progress,” he added.

Poullennec, who took over the guide in 2018, has overseen several choices that have raised eyebrows among chefs and foodies alike.

Last year Michelin shocked industry insiders by downgrading the Auberge du Pont de Collonges — the oldest three-starred restaurant in the world — after the death of its legendary chef Paul Bocuse.

And in January 2019, Marc Veyrat became the first chef to sue the famous red guidebook after it withdrew the third star for his French Alps restaurant La Maison des Bois just a year after it was awarded.

Veyrat, who lost his case, has said he never wants to see a Michelin inspector in any of his restaurants ever again.

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