No change in Michelin stars, but elite Helsinki eateries see decline in business customers

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Few restaurateurs would probably be disappointed if their establishment was acknowledged solidly as a two-star attraction in the Michelin Guide Rouge and its excellent cooking was thereby regarded as "worth a detour".
      Helsinki's Chez Dominique retained its two stars on the appearance on Monday of a new Michelin Guide to the Main Cities of Europe, but chef de cuisine Hans Välimäki's voice did contain a hint of annoyance all the same.
      Välimäki expressed the view that the restaurant had made some radical forward developments, and that they had been hoping they might have reaped a reward.
      Chez Dominique got its first star in 2001 and a second was added in 2003. The restaurant was established in 1998.
     
But it was business as normal for Helsinki's #1 eatery, and for the three other Helsinki restaurants that earned a single star in the 2008 edition.
      Demo, Carma, and Postres all kept their rating.
      Two new restaurants - Mecca and the Munkkiniemi restaurant Solna - were included in the Guide as "Bib Gourmand" establishments, offering good quality cuisine at moderate prices.
      On the other hand, Olo lost its Bib Gourmand ranking from last year.
     
The one-star places were all satisfied that they had continued to win the Michelin inspectors' approval, and none of them reported that they were expecting greater things just yet.
      At the same time, all the starred restaurants acknowledged that the flow of customers had eased off in the early part of this year, but they did not think that Michelin rankings were a panacea for difficult economic times.
      Naturally, things might have been different if they had lost their stars.
      Apparently people are still going out to eat with friends as they used to, but the corporate expense-account clients have tightened their belts in the face of falling profits and productivity.
     
     
Links below are to the newly-listed restaurants only. Links to the starred restaurants can be found from the IntEd article from 2008.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki gains two new Guide Michelin entries (12.3.2008)

Links:
  Mecca
  Solna
  Via Michelin (requires registration)
  Eat.fi restaurant directory

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