2 Michelin Star Chefs: Mickael Viljanen, chef patron, Chapter One

Mickael Viljanen is the chef patron at Two Michelin-starred Chapter One restaurant in Dublin

Born in Stockholm, Sweden and raised in Finland, young Mickael Viljanen made the decision to go to a catering college instead of a university. Later, he worked on a cruise ship, landing a head chef position at the age of 23 in a restaurant called PK’s in his home city of Pori in Finland.

Biography

After some time spent in the UK, Mickael moved to Ireland in 2000, where he worked with Paul Flynn at Tannery Restaurant in Waterford. He then spent five years at Gregans Castle in the west of Ireland, where he won the Food & Wine Magazine's Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year awards. 

In 2012, Mickael joined the founding team at The Greenhouse in Dublin in a joint venture with restaurateur Eamonn O’Reily when it opened in 2012.

During his time at The Greenhouse, Mickael won the Food & Wine Magazine's Chef of The Year twice, most recently in 2019; the Restaurant of the Year award in Georgina Campbell’s Ireland Guide in 2012; and Chef of the Year, also in the Ireland Guide, in 2019.

In 2015, The Greenhouse was awarded a Michelin star; a second followed in 2019. 

At the time, it was one of only two restaurants in Dublint that had a star, and a first in the capital to secure a second star since 2000.

In 2021, Mickael became the chef patron at Chapter One in a joint venture with head chef and co-owner of the restaurant, Ross Lewis.

Mickael has travelled frequently during his years as a chef, with work taking him to Asia, the USA, Scandinavia, the UK and elsewhere. 

The chef also appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Ireland in 2012, and, in 2018, was a judge for San Pellegrino World Young Chef final in London.

Chapter One

Ross Lewis opened Chapter One in 1993 with Martin Corbett (now retired) in the space below the Irish Writers Museum on Parnell Square, central Dublin.

However, in 2021 he decided to step back from an active role in the kitchen to allow him to focus on his Italian restaurant, Osteria Lucio, located on Clanwilliam Terrace, which he plans to upgrade.

Ross remains a business partner and patron of Chapter One and intends on working with Mickael for years to come, to ensure customer experience is as seamless and hopefully more enjoyable than ever.

Food Style

Mickael has an unique food style, combining Finnish, classical French and Irish cooking techniques. Often creating dishes on the spot, Mickael tends to use whatever the produce available is at the time.

In his restaurant, he offers three different types of menus: a surprise menu, a seven-course menu and a set menu - the most popular out of the three being the surprise menu.

The dishes often change and menus are tailored to suit what produce is available at the time. Although Mickael combines many different styles of food, he maintains that it's neither Finnish, French nor Irish,  but a combination of the three.

Chapter One: An Irish Food Story

Published in December 2013, this Irish Food Story is a tribute to the achievements of the Dublin restaurant and its Michelin-starred chef Ross. The book showcases the cooking at Chapter One and puts a spotlight on the farmers and staff who give the restaurant its heartbeat.

Food and restaurant style

Chapter One seeks to reflect Ireland’s landscape, craftspeople and artists in everything they do, not just in the food, but in the art, design and crafts displayed, including the ongoing Project Art, showcasing work by young Irish artists.

The restaurant is also a supporter of the Food on the Edge conference, which since 2015 has been bringing together leading chefs and food producers from all over the world to explore the future of food.