Sun Group accompanies to bring the Michelin Guide collection to Viet Nam
The Michelin Guide global culinary collection will officially set the foot in Vietnam, with the companionship of the “destination partner” Sun Group, promising to open a new chapter in the journey to raise Vietnamese cuisine in particular and Vietnam tourism in general to the world.
On the morning of December 1st, 2022, at the Capella Hanoi Hotel, Michelin officially announced that Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) will be the two newest destinations named in the international journey of Michelin Guide – the world’s first-class famous culinary collection. The list of selected restaurants will launch in June 2023. In the launching ceremony of Michelin Guide Vietnam, Michelin also said that Sun Group will be their “destination partner”.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Mr. Ahmad Faiez Mohamed Pisal - Managing Director of Michelin Vietnam - Managing Director of Michelin Vietnam said: “With an extremely interesting culinary history and heritage, unique flavors, iconic recipes, and famous delicacies, Vietnamese cuisine is well-known around the world. In particular, Ha Noi City and Ho Chi Minh City deserve to be honored as two jewels. There, the locals see street food as a lifestyle, and the owners of the food establishments - whether local or foreign - are talented. The evaluation journey of anonymous experts is already underway and soon, the first Michelin Guide Vietnam list will be announced.”
Born in 1900 by a tire manufacturer, the Michelin Guide has quickly made a strong influence from France to European countries and then all over the world by strict principles and regulations of particularly unbiased assessment.
Michelin’s categories of assessment are based on 5 principles: Quality of ingredients used; Skilled cooking techniques; Harmony in taste; Showing off the chef’s unique personality; and Time-stable quality of the dishes. Michelin is also greatly concerned with service quality and is willing to exclude restaurants with bad service no matter how delicious the food is. The Michelin Guide judges are anonymous culinary experts, who are not allowed to reveal their profession to anyone and always “score” the restaurants as a guest.
With a history of more than 120 years, the Michelin Guide is the most prestigious collection of cuisines in the world. The chefs and restaurants named in the Michelin Guide are likened to receiving the Oscars of the global culinary industry, with great honor and the opportunity to promote their image worldwide. Around the world, the appearance of the Michelin Guide with “prestigious stars” has created not only a great influence on cuisine but also positive effects on the economy, especially the countries’ tourism.
According to surveys, when comparing the destinations, 67% of visitors will choose a destination with Michelin instead of a destination without the “star”. The Michelin Guide effect also leads to an increase in the quantity and quality of demand as 57% of frequent tourists will extend their stay at a Michelin destination. The Michelin Guide restaurants with 71% of frequent tourists increase their spending, helping to spread the effect of the collections on each economy, boosting the appearance of high-end customers and tourist groups with higher spending. The presence of the Michelin Guide and the star rating also has increased the workforce at Michelin-starred restaurants by 80%. In 2018, the Michelin Guide helped San Francisco and Singapore create 2,650 new jobs at Michelin-starred restaurants. Therefore, the appearance of the Michelin Guide in two major cities of Vietnam is also expected to become an important milestone, not only to introduce and promote the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to the world but also positively affect the thinking and service style as well as foster more strongly the development of Vietnamese cuisine and tourism, thereby reinforcing the socio-economic growth.
Vietnamese cuisine is well-known to the world for its diversity, rich in culture, history, and regional characteristics. In 2020, the World Travel Awards (WTA) awarded Vietnam the title of Asia’s Leading Culinary Destination. Recently, The Travel, the famous travel magazine, announced a list of the top 10 countries with the world’s most attractive cuisine voted by readers, of which Vietnam was ranked the 5th with familiar dishes such as phở, bread, nem rán, bún chả, etc,...Ha Noi capital has just been voted by Tripadvisor in the “top 25 destinations in the world for food lovers” as its long-standing culinary heritage matches the beauty of the old streets of the charming city. Ho Chi Minh City attracts tourists because its cuisine is the intersection of many regions, the combination of Asian and Western cuisines in the luxuriant and dynamic city.
Sharing the reason for accompanying the Michelin Guide as a destination partner, Mr. Dang Minh Truong - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sun Group said: "Over the past 15 years, in the journey to accompany the development of Vietnam’s tourism, the Sun Group always strives to bring the world’s quintessence to Vietnam, creating world-class resorts, entertainment and infrastructure projects. Today, by accompanying the Michelin Guide to Vietnam, we want Vietnam to be known not only as a destination with beautiful nature, high-class resorts, or first-ranking entertainment complexes but also as the world’s culinary destination with reputable Michelin-starred restaurants”
“Michelin Guide’s arrival in Vietnam will help us have a rating system of the highest international standards for Vietnamese cuisine. Vietnam will have Michelin-starred restaurants. It may be a long-standing “phở” restaurant, or a particularly luxurious restaurant. That will not only increase the prestige but also raise the level of Vietnamese cuisine and tourism.
Mr. Dang Minh Truong emphasized: “This is also the basis for Vietnam to welcome more tourists with high spending, thereby pushing competitive destinations, enhancing the quality of cuisine as well as customer service, improving the skills of the chefs and service staff in the restaurants, aiming to meet international standards and compete with the world’s top culinary destinations”.
This is not the first time Sun Group has cooperated with “culinary giants” in the world. In 2016, La Maison 1888 belonging to InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort of Sun Group in Da Nang once worked with the top 10 best chefs in the world - Mr. Pierre Gagnaire, to bring La Maison 1888 to the list of world-class restaurants. In 2019, the Pink Pearl of the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort treated its diners with a menu of 2-Michelin-star chef - Ophélie Bares from France. Most recently, Sun Group cooperated with Junichi Yoshida - a famous Japanese chef who was awarded a Michelin star, to bring this chef’s globally famous Teppanyaki cuisine to the Koki restaurant of Capella Hanoi.
Becoming a “destination partner” and accompanying the Michelin Guide to Vietnam, Sun Group once again shows the Group’s enthusiasm in its efforts to follow and contribute to supporting Vietnamese cuisine to meet the highest international standards and also affirming Vietnam’s position on the global tourism map.
