Mickael Viljanen was born in Stockholm, Sweden but grew up in Finland. After some time spent in the UK he moved to Ireland in 2000, where he worked with Paul Flynn at the Tannery in Waterford before spending five years at Gregans Castle in the west of Ireland, where he won ‘Chef of the Year’ and ‘Restaurant of the Year’ from Food & Wine Magazine, and also RAI ‘Chef of the Year’.
From there he moved on to open The Greenhouse restaurant in Dublin in 2012 – where has gone on to win Food & Wine magazine ‘Chef of The Year’ twice – most recently in 2019. He also won ‘Restaurant of the Year’ in Georgina Campbell guide in 2012 and Georgina Campbell guide ‘Chef of the Year’ in 2019.
September 16th in 2015 saw Mickael entering the Michelin guide with his first Michelin star, and on October 7th in 2019 the restaurant got promoted to 2 stars under his leadership – making it one of only 2 restaurants in Dublin with this accolade and the first one since 2000.
2021 saw Mickael moving on to the role of Chef Patron of the restaurant Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen. ‘Opinionated about Dining top 100’ (OAD top 100) placed Mickael and the restaurant team on 26th place in Europe for classical dining.
Mickael has travelled intensively over the years, with work taking him to Asia, the USA, Scandinavia, the UK and beyond. His TV work has seen him appear as the guest judge on 'Masterchef Ireland'. Mickael has also judged global competitions, such as the San Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year 2018 in London. He also has a keen interest in game and hunting.
Mickael is the Brand Ambassador for Gaggenau.
For more information please contact: info@nkmanagement.ie or 35319061011