Michelin Guide to unveil Istanbul restaurant selection in fall

ISTANBUL

The Michelin Guide has said it will unveil its first restaurant selection for Istanbul in October this year.

“Istanbul, which is a first-rate gastronomy destination, impressed our team. Michelin Guide will now introduce this city to gourmets from all around the world,” Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, told a press conference in Istanbul on April 21.

Istanbul will become the 38th international destination to be added to Michelin Guide.

“Michelin Guide’s selections will support our efforts to promote Istanbul as a ‘Gastrocity.’ This move will add to the brand value of Istanbul, which is home to a number of award-winning restaurants,” Culture and Tourism’s Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said at the event held at the Atatürk Culture Center.

“I strongly believe that beside Istanbul, İzmir, Bodrum and Çeşme, which have their own unique cuisines and restaurants, will end up being added to the Michelin Guide,” Ersoy added.

The minister noted that Turkey is ranked fourth in the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)’s 2021 list of most visited countries, adding that the country’s eatery industry has played a significant role in that success.

“We have been long looking forward to it. This move showed that as we move up in the league of gastronomy, it will help Turkey attract more tourists,” said Müberra Eresin, head of the Hotel Association of Turkey (TÜROB).

As well as remaining loyal to this still vibrant culinary heritage, Istanbul also offers gourmets that are more daring, innovative with fusion recipes created by talented homegrown and foreign chefs, brimming with creativity, the Michelin Guide said.

Inspection teams will work independently to identify and recommend the city’s best restaurants after anonymously appraising the quality of the cuisine offered by these restaurants according to the five criteria: The quality of products, the mastery of cooking techniques, the harmony of flavors, the personality of the chef represented through his/her cuisine and the consistency of the menu between inspectors’ visits, the Michelin Guide said.

From October 11, the first restaurant selection of the Michelin Guide Istanbul will be available online on the Michelin Guide website.