Eero Mäkelä (December 11, 1942 – June 10, 2008) was a Finnish chef. His Palace Gourmet restaurant was the first in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

to win a

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

and became a Cordon Bleu in 1974. Eero Mäkelä was born in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

. He first organized competitions in Finland between Scandinavian restaurant cooks. Competitions were held in Helsinki in 1982. He acted as judge in many international competitions, including four times at the Bocuse d'Or competition in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. He was also an expert in the education and training of cooking and restaurant management. Eero Mäkelä also acted as the Finnish Chef Association's chairman, and later the association's honorary chair. Mäkelä was active and well-known chef in Finland, who made a whole career in Finnish food culture. He died, aged 65, in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

References

Finnish chefs 1942 births 2008 deaths Finnish restaurateurs {{chef-bio-stub