Michelin late last week awarded two stars to two more restaurants in London - both of them Japanese - and gave new single stars to another 15 establishments in the guide to the UK and Ireland.
The new two stars are Araki, a Mayfair establishment where chef Mitsuhiro Araki serves a single sushi-only menu for £300 a person; and Umu, where the kaiseki menu costs a relatively modest £115. Araki accommodates only nine diners at a time, in two seatings for dinner.
The new one stars in London are Lyle's, Bonhams, Portland and the Dining Room at the Goring, Michelin said. Rasoi and Maze both lose their stars. The city now has a total of 11 restaurants with two stars and 25 with one.
Five more London venues won a Bib Gourmand: L'Amrosa; Shikumen; Blixen; Taberna do Mercado; and Dehesa. Chef Tom Kerridge won one for the Coach, in Marlow. A Bib is awarded to places serving great meals costing less than £28 for three courses.
"It's encouraging that some talented young chefs are coming through," Rebecca Burr, who edits the guide, said in a telephone interview. "They have confidence in their own style of cooking. It's a change from the 1990s, when things were more formulaic. These guys are setting out on their own."
The Fat Duck was omitted this year because Heston Blumenthal temporarily relocated the restaurant to Melbourne. That leaves only three top-rated establishments in the U.K.: Gordon Ramsay; Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester; and the Waterside Inn.
News by Bloomberg, edited by Hospitality Ireland
