Michelin Guide 2010: UK has more starred restaurants than ever before

Britain's place as one of the world centres of gastronomy has been enhanced by the influential Michelin guide, which has awarded more stars to the nation's restaurants than at any time in its 35-year history.

Sir Michael Parkinson now has a Michelin star thanks to his pub The Royal Oak being awarded
Sir Michael Parkinson now has a Michelin star thanks to his pub The Royal Oak being awarded Credit: Photo: PA

There are now four restaurants with the highest accolade of 3 stars after Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester was awarded the top honour.

The last time Britain had this number of 3 star restaurants was during the mid-1990s when Marco Pierre White, Nico Ladenis and the Roux Brothers were causing a stir.

In total there are 140 restaurants to be recognised by Michelin with a star, the highest number Britain has ever won.

Derek Bulmer, the editor, said: "Food in Britain can be compared with the best in the world. OK, we don't have as many stars, in total, as France or Italy does, but London is a gastronomic powerhouse and chefs are doing amazing things here in this country."

The Dorchester joins the Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn, both in Bray, and Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant in Chelsea in the elite club of three stars.

A clutch of restaurants won their first Michelin star in the 2010 guide book, which is published next week, including The Royal Oak in Bray. The stars the secretive reviewers award are widely considered to be the highest possible honour in the restaurant industry, and chefs have been known to commit suicide on learning they have lost a star.

The Royal Oak is jointly owned by Sir Michael Parkinson, the veteran television presenter, and his son Nick.

Bray now has seven Michelin stars, more than Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield combined.

Mr Bulmer said: "It's a traditional local pub, not a gastropub but Dominic Chapman, the chef, has transformed the food. He cooks really delicious, tasty British food."

The £15, two-course set price lunch includes belly of Gloucester Old Spot pork followed by rhubarb crumble and custard.

Mr Chapman found out yesterday afternoon, just hours after serving Sir Michael a lunch of haddock and poached egg. "It is brilliant, just brilliant. I had to phone Michelin myself just to be doubly sure.

"Getting a Michelin star is what every chef dreams of. It really is the highest accolade and to get it for cooking local, seasonal British food is fantastic. We will be drinking a fair bit of champagne tonight after we have finished service.

"Mr Parkinson senior is a brilliant owner. He has been so supportive and he loves his food. He is in here most days, usually having the fish, or occasionally the steak."

Other restaurants on the rise include The Samling in Ambleside, Cumbria, which won its first star, underlining how the Lake District is becoming one of the best places to eat in Britain, along with The Ledbury, in Notting Hill, London, which won its second star.

One of the losers, however, was Ramsay, who despite holding on to 3 stars at his Chelsea flagship lost his one star at Claridges, just a few months after losing his head chef at the hotel, Mark Sargeant. It follows a torrid year for the chef, who admitted he was close to bankruptcy during 2009.

Mr Bulmer said: "With its high prices and with Gordon Ramsay's name above the door you go with high expectations to Claridges and it just didn't produce the goods this year on our numerous visits. It's OK to be expensive if the food is very good, but Michelin cares about value for money."

Ramsay said last night: "We are very disappointed to lose the Michelin star, but we are going to work harder than ever to try to earn it back.”

“Last year was a very tough one for everyone. To suit the mood of the times we simplified our offering at Claridge’s, perhaps this explains the change in the restaurant’s Michelin status.”

The total of 140 stars Britain won compared with 137 last year.

Mr Ducasse already holds 18 stars for his restaurants around the world, from New York to Tokyo. The only chef with more stars is Joel Robuchon, with 25.

Here is a full list of starred restaurants included in the new Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2010:

:: ONE STAR

LONDON

Chapter One, Farnborough Common, Kent

Hakkasan, Bloomsbury

Club Gascon, City of London

Rhodes Twenty Four, City of London

The Harwood Arms, Fulham (new)

River Cafe, Hammersmith

La Trompette, Chiswick

St John, Clerkenwell

Rasoi, Chelsea

Tom Aikens, Chelsea

Bingham Restaurant (at Bingham Hotel), Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey (new)

The Glasshouse, Kew, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey

Chez Bruce, Wandsworth

Amaya, Belgravia

Apsleys (at The Lanesborough Hotel), Belgravia (new)

Nahm (at The Halkin Hotel), Belgravia

Zafferano, Belgravia

Benares, Mayfair

Galvin at Windows (at London Hilton Hotel), Mayfair (new)

The Greenhouse, Mayfair

Helene Darroze at The Connaught, Mayfair

Kai, Mayfair

Maze, Mayfair

Murano, Mayfair

Nobu (at The Metropolitan), Mayfair

Nobu Berkeley St, Mayfair

Semplice, Mayfair

Sketch (The Lecture Room and Library), Mayfair

Tamarind, Mayfair (new)

Umu, Mayfair

Wild Honey, Mayfair

L'Autre Pied, Marylebone

Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone

Rhodes W1(Restaurant) (at the Cumberland), Marylebone

Texture, Marylebone (new)

Arbutus, Soho

Yauatcha, Soho

Quilon, Victoria

Roussillon, Victoria

REST OF ENGLAND

Drakes on the Pond, Abinger Hammer, Surrey

The Samling, Ambleside, Cumbria (new)

Michael Wignall at The Latymer, Bagshot, Surrey

Fischer's at Baslow Hall, Baslow, Derbyshire

The Park (at Lucknam Park Hotel), Colerne, Wiltshire

The Terrace (at Montagu Arms), Beaulieu, Hampshire

The Pipe & Glass Inn, South Dalton, East Yorkshire (new)

The West House, Biddenden, Kent

Fraiche, Birkenhead, Merseyside

Purnell's, Birmingham, West Midlands

Simpsons, Birmingham, West Midlands

Turners, Birmingham, West Midlands

Northcote, Langho, Lancashire

Morston Hall, Morston, Norfolk

The Burlington (at The Devonshire Arms Country House), Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire

Lords of the Manor, Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire

The Royal Oak, Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire (new)

Casamia, Bristol

The Goose, Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire (new)

Manor House Hotel and Golf Club, Castle Combe, Wiltshire

Atlantic, Jersey

Bohemia (at The Club Hotel and Spa), Jersey

Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor, Chester, Cheshire

West Stoke House, West Stoke, West Sussex

Apicius, Cranbrook, Kent

Ockenden Manor, Cuckfield, West Sussex

The New Angel, Dartmouth, Devon

Sienna, Dorchester, Dorset (new)

36 on the Quay, Emsworth, Hampshire

Read's, Faversham, Kent

L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria

Harry's Place, Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire

The Star Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire

The Neptune, Hunstanton, Norfolk

Box Tree, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

The Stagg Inn, Titley, Herefordshire

La Becasse, Ludlow, Shropshire

Mr Underhill's at Dinham Weir, Ludlow, Shropshire

The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, Little Bedwyn, Wiltshire

The Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire

The Nut Tree, Murcott, Oxfordshire

Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Hambleton Hall, Hambleton, Rutland

The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill-in-Nidderdale, North Yorkshire

JSW, Petersfield, Hampshire

L'Ortolan, Shinfield, Berkshire

Drakes, Ripley, Surrey

Mallory Court, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Old Vicarage, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

The Masons Arms, Knowstone, Devon

The Olive Branch and Beech House, Clipsham, Rutland

The Room in the Elephant, Torquay, Devon

Sharrow Bay Country House, Ullswater, Cumbria

Auberge du Lac, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent

The Hambrough, Isle of Wight

5 North St, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Holbeck Ghyll, Windermere, Cumbria

SCOTLAND

Summer Isles, Achitibuie, Highland

Braidwoods, Dalry, North Ayrshire

Number One (at The Balmoral Hotel), Edinburgh

21212, Edinburgh (new)

The Kitchin, Edinburgh

Martin Wishart, Edinburgh

Plumed Horse, Edinburgh

Sangster's, Elie, Fife

Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, Highland

Champany Inn, Linlithgow, West Lothian

The Albannach, Lochinver, Highland

Boath House, Nairn, Highland

The Peat Inn, Peat Inn, Fife (new)

Knockinaam Lodge, Portpatrick, Dumfries and Galloway

Kinloch Lodge, Isle of Skye (new)

WALES

The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire (new)

Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire (new)

Ynyshir Hall, Machynlleth, Powys (new)

The Crown at Whitebrook, Whitebrook, Monmouthshire

NORTHERN IRELAND

Deanes, Belfast, Antrim

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

The House (at Cliff House Hotel), Ardmore, Waterford (new)

Chapter One, Dublin

L'Ecrivain, Dublin

Thornton's (at The Fitzwilliam), Dublin

Bon Appetit, Malahide, Dublin

:: TWO STARS

LONDON

Pied a Terre, Camden, Bloomsbury

The Ledbury, Kensington (new)

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Belgravia

Le Gavroche, Mayfair

Hibiscus, Mayfair

The Square, Mayfair

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Covent Garden

REST OF ENGLAND

Midsummer House, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon

Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Whatley Manor, Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire

SCOTLAND

Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Patrick Guilbaud, Dublin

:: THREE STARS

LONDON

Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Mayfair (new)

REST OF ENGLAND

Fat Duck, Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire

The Waterside Inn, Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire

:: DELETIONS

ONE STAR

LONDON

Aubergine, Chelsea

Ambassade de L'lle, South Kensington

Assaggi, City of Westminster

Foliage (at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel), Knightsbridge

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, Mayfair

Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House, Soho

REST OF ENGLAND

Bath Priory, Bath

Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, Brockenhurst, Hampshire

Christophe, Guernsey

Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall

Seaham Hall, Seaham, Durham

SCOTLAND

Ballachulish House, Ballachulish, Highland

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Mint, Dublin

TWO STARS

LONDON

The Capital, Chelsea

REST OF ENGLAND

The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, Berkshire