SA the first Australian destination to feature in famed global guide
For the next few months, mystery diners are scrutinising SA restaurants to decide the ones deemed Michelin-star worthy, in an Australian first. But the move also comes at a mystery price.
South Australia will become the first Australian state to feature in the world-famous Michelin Guide, Tourism Minister Emily Bourke announced today.
The project is a joint venture with the state government’s tourism commission and Michelin, but what the state government is paying to bring the guide down under remains commercial in confidence.
In the most recent bid from the guide to include Australia, Michelin reportedly asked for $17.33 million over five years from Tourism Australia.
Tourism New Zealand paid $6.3 million to secure Michelin in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, according to the New Zealand Herald.
“This is something that South Australia is really proud to back, because, as we’ve seen, it goes beyond the benefits of the plate,” Bourke said.
“As a state, we already know that we do this well, but now we get to have an extra symbol that shows that and has an opportunity to tell that to 63 million people who use the Michelin website every single year.
“We know that up to two jobs are created from every time a Michelin Guide is put into a community through the chain of opportunities that come with this guide being announced here in South Australia.”
Michelin inspectors are on the ground at the moment and will be judging restaurants in Adelaide and across the regions to be included in the 2027 edition of the guide book, the full list will not be released until October.
The guide’s inspection team say “South Australia offers a compelling proposition for gastronomic travellers in search of authenticity, diversity and a strong sense of place”.
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Bourke said the judging is “independent” and the restaurants and the government do not know which ones are being visited or chosen.
She was flanked by the state’s top chefs Duncan Welgemoed, Scott Huggins, Jake Kellie and Kane Pollard, as Bourke made the announcement at Tasting Australia’s Town Square in the city today.
Welgemoed owns North Terrace’s Africola, and earned himself a Michelin star when he was 21 years old working as the Head Chef of The Goose in Oxfordshire, UK.
He said the listing would open up immense opportunities for chefs, and having the program in SA would stop the “brain drain” of hospitality talent leaving the state.
When asked what his message was to the other states, Welgemoed said “catch us if you can”.
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