Seoul Restaurants to Get Michelin Stars

The gourmet Michelin Guide will publish a Seoul edition later, a first for Korea.

Michelin Korea on Thursday said food critics will visit Seoul to evaluate the restaurants featured in the guide for next year.

Michelin country manager Kim Bo-hyung said, "The date has not been fixed yet, but it will be out by the end of this year."

The guidebook will be published in Korean and English and as an e-book. Michelin Group executive Bernard Delmas said the Seoul edition reflects the growing status of the Korean culinary scene and global interest in Korean food.

Michelin famously awards coveted stars to the best fine-dining restaurants in the world, with three being the highest accolade.

Since the stars are for a particular type of expensive, laboriously prepared food, outstanding reasonably priced restaurants are singled out as "Bib Gourmand" and given a Bibendum pictogram, the mascot of the Michelin tyres.

Stars and Bib Gourmand do not take service or atmosphere into account. Delmas explained that the two are evaluated separately and reviewed on a scale of one to five with a pictogram of a crossed spoon and a fork.

Michelin critics visit the restaurants anonymously.

The Michelin Guide started in 1900 as a free guide to promote the tire company and included helpful information on roads, restaurants, and accommodation.

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