The 2013 Michelin Guide to Great Britain and Ireland has just been published ? with three restaurants promoted to two stars, and two more pubs getting one star. There are now 154 Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK.
Sketch in London?s Mayfair: L?Enclume in Cartmel, Cumbria: and Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Pennyhill Park, in Surrey are those which have just received the coveted second star.
The Red Lion Freehouse in East Chisenbury, Wiltshire , and the Hind?s Head in Bray are the latest pubs to win a Michelin star. Guide editor Rebecca Burr commented ?I am very pleased to reveal that there are two further pubs included in this year?s star awards. This suggests that the trend for British pubs acknowledging diners as well as drinkers, and striving to raise the standards of cooking, is continuing to move in a positive direction?.
The Hind?s Head is across the road from the three-star Fat Duck restaurant in the village of Bray and, like it, is owned by Heston Blumenthal, who now has five stars to his name (the fifth star being for Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel). Bray, near Windsor, now has seven stars ? and a population of about 7,000* people – as it is also the location for the three-starred Waterside Inn.
Sixteen restaurants in the UK have been awarded one Michelin star, ranging from James Close?s Raby Hunt in Summerhouse, Darlington in the north-east, to Paul Ainsworth at No 6 in Padstow, Cornwall. The spa town of Bath and university city of Cambridge also get new stars ? at the Bath Priory Hotel, and Alimentum.
In London there are eight new one star establishments, including Hedone in Chiswick ? run by Swedish food blogger Mikael Jonsson, who has no professional kitchen experience and only opened it 14 months ago; Trishna, an Indian restaurant run by brother and sister team Karam and Sunaina Sethi, both still in their 20s;and Dabbous. one of the hottest new restaurants, with one of the longest waiting lists to book a table. St John Hotel, co-run by Fergus Henderson, whose St John?s Restaurant in Clerkenwell is famous for its ?from nose to tail? cooking philosophy, has also got its first star.
There are also more than 30 restaurants in the UK which have received Bib Gourmand awards, including 11 in London. These are not stars, but recognise restaurants offering particularly good value for money ? up to ?28 for three courses, Rebecca Burr commenting: ?in difficult financial times, establishments awarded a Bib Gourmand have been a real hit with our readers, proving that providing good value for money doesn?t have to mean compromising standards?.
The Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2013 is priced at ?14.99. Full lists of the stars can be found on http://news.michelin.co.uk/newsuk/en/news/news-detail/news/20080819113604/29442.html
Numbers of UK stars (with 2012 figures in brackets):
Three stars ? 4 (4)
Two stars ? 19 (16)
One star ? 131 (125)
*ONS estimates for 2010 give a population estimate of 7,300.