Michelin Time Again

So its that time again each year when UK restauranteurs around the world hold their breath in anticipation of promotion, demotion or simply being passed over by the guide who's aim it is to steer you towards those establishments who will give you the most gustatory pleasure whilst morphing your shape into that of a Michelin man. Over a hundred years old and based on reviews by anonymous, professionally-trained staff, it is the Olympics and Oscars of the food world rolled into one.

But what is the Michelin guide? Well its certainly not a guide to restaurants in your area - if the inspectors do not find a restaurant worthy of their standards there is no listing. As a result, large swathes of many areas suffer from the map maker’s equivalent of “Here be dragons”.

Its standards are also a mystery. In 2004 Pascal Remy wrote a tell-all book in France about the anonymous and often dreary life of a Michelin inspector. Mr. Remy's book confirmed that everything is judged, from the welcome at the door to the presentation of the food, though he did cast doubt on how often restaurants were visited.

Since then the reclusive organization has expanded and become somewhat more open about its approach. In 2005 Michelin launched in New York, employing 5 inspectors to evaluate over 1200 restaurants for its inaugural edition. In 2009 the Hong Kong edition was released, countering criticisms of a bias towards French food and techniques. Their website now even includes an interview with an inspector.

It is fair to describe it as the foodies bible and for me, it was epitomized by a chance encounter I had in a back street in Bergerac some years ago. I still remember nearly colliding into the quintessential gourmet. Elegantly dressed, sporting a starched white shirt and jacket, gleaming brogues and corduroy trousers, he was fully as wide as he was tall and gripped a Michelin Guide in one hand whilst his intense look conveyed without words, the certain knowledge that he was late for an exceedingly good lunch. Here was a man both with and on a mission. A true bon vivant in full flow and in his element

In that spirit then I list the full results for this year below and am delighted to see Texture receive their first star. I feared the front of house body count was not high enough and the butter and cream use to low to for this establishment to join the hallowed ranks of starred restaurants but common sense has finally triumphed.

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