Michelin Guide UK 2019: our predictions

The Araki was the only new three-star restaurant announced last year, which wasn’t a huge amount of use to most as it only has nine seats and costs £300 per person (although we’re certain that, if you do get a seat, it will be one of the best meals of your life). Michelin don’t hand out three stars easily, so it’s perhaps unlikely we’ll see another join the ranks of The Araki, The Fat Duck, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, The Waterside Inn and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester this year. But if anyone is going to win one, it’s the incredible Restaurant Sat Bains, Simon Rogan’s lauded L’Enclume or Nathan Outlaw’s eponymous restaurant down in Cornwall (which all currently hold two Michelin stars). In our eyes they’re all deserving of that coveted third star, but we’ll have to wait and see if Michelin agree.

We’ve been following Mark Birchall’s rise to the top since he was head chef at Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume, and have really enjoyed watching his own very ambitious restaurant Moor Hall take form over the past few years. After visiting his restaurant a few weeks ago, we can tell that all his hard work has more than paid off. The restaurant itself is stunning – an extension to an ex-residential manor just outside Aughton in Lancashire that’s bright, open, airy and allows you a peek into the immaculate kitchen, where Mark and his team create a stunning tasting menu that makes the most of Lancashire produce and the flavourful herbs of the UK.

That’s only one part of the experience, however – there’s also a beautiful, ever-expanding kitchen garden; a more casual restaurant in a converted barn; a dedicated dairy (with plans for a brewery and bakery in the pipeline) and all the charcuterie is made on-site. The rooms are exquisite too, and mean you get to enjoy one of the finest breakfasts we’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Mark is an astonishingly good chef and Moor Hall received its first Michelin star last year within a year of opening. That might mean Michelin wait a year or two before bestowing him with a second, but in our opinion the quality of the food, service and surroundings is there already.

Clare Smyth has had quite the year – since leaving the three-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and opening her first solo venture Core, she has been named the World’s Best Female Chef by the World’s Top 50 Restaurant Awards and come in straight at number three on the Good Food Guide’s Top 50. She didn’t win a star last year as Core had only been open a few months, but many are tipping her to enter the guide straight in at two stars (as Claude Bosi did with Bibendum last year) – and it’s easy to see why. With so much experience behind her and an incredible menu on offer, a meal at Core is easily one of London’s most wished for.

HIDE is a bit of a tricky one, as it technically houses two restaurants – HIDE Above and HIDE Ground (plus a beautiful bar, Below, in the basement). Whether Michelin will recognise it as one or two separate entities is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear that the food at HIDE Above is at a two-star status. Ollie Dabbous and head chef Luke Selby have created a stunning menu that’s themed around nature, and the complexity and work that goes into every dish is, quite frankly, mind-boggling (especially when the dishes themselves look simple and natural on the plate). If it doesn’t go straight in at two stars this year then it’s certainly on the cards for the future.

HIDE Above might be where you get the full tasting menu experience, but that certainly doesn’t mean the larger all-day restaurant below is subpar. A meal at Ground is easily Michelin star quality, with beautiful dishes served at breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. And that’s before you get started on the wine list – the biggest in London (and possibly the world).

Our second Brighton-based pick, The Little Fish Market is run by two-man team Duncan Ray (chef) and Rob Smith (front of house). The duo ensures each of the twenty covers receives some of the best fish dishes in the country via a tasting menu that changes daily depending on what’s brought in by day boats. Duncan worked at The Fat Duck for four years, but don’t expect dry ice and sous vides everywhere – he prefers to cook fish using traditional methods, which he says provides the best flavour and texture. This little restaurant ticks all the boxes for Michelin, and it’s been tipped by many to become Brighton’s first starred restaurant.

Nottingham’s restaurant scene has been dominated by Restaurant Sat Bains in recent years, but Alchemilla – run by ex-Sat Bains and Turners chef Alex Bond – is quickly becoming just as renowned. Alex was named Chef to Watch in the 2019 edition of the Good Food Guide just a year after opening, and the beautiful dining room, complete with ‘living walls’ covered with ferns and moss, is where you’ll find picture perfect dishes that celebrate seasonal vegetables (with meat and fish generally playing a supporting role). Another Michelin-starred restaurant would place Nottingham firmly on the culinary map.

This small, contemporary restaurant is one of York’s shining stars, with chef Josh Overington (who appeared on Great British Menu) at the helm. Classical French techniques, modern European flavours and the very best ingredients are turned into ‘blind’ tasting menus of either four or eight courses, which change daily, so you’re never sure what you’re going to be eating until you sit down. York has a pretty impressive list of restaurants within its walls, but Le Cochon Aveugle is where you’ll find some of the most interesting, accomplished cooking – could this be the year York gets a star?

If Michelin are serious about shedding their image of favouring grandiose, formal restaurants over everything else, then The Marram Grass is a serious contender for this year’s guide. Brothers Liam and Ellis Barrie have transformed a greasy spoon café on a caravan park into one of north Wales’ top culinary attractions, championing local produce and seasonal ingredients. The team has recently set up an on-site farm (complete with pigs), and the dishes are prime examples of why modern British food has become so popular.

If you want serious luxury, classical service and plenty of historical importance, you can’t get better than a trip to Cliveden House. And the stately home’s restaurant run by André Garrett reflects the staunch decadence of the place beautifully. Quality local ingredients are cooked to perfection, plated with precision and look as good as the stunning surroundings. It’s everything Michelin look for in a restaurant, and we’re sure the team there are hoping they get recognition this year.

Cumbria offers some of the UK’s best dining experiences, and it looks like Lake Road Kitchen is set to join the likes of L’Enclume, Forest Side and Gilpin Hotel and Lake House. Meat is cooked over fire, but there is a definite Japanese influence in the kitchen which is used to turn local vegetables into stunning dishes. The restaurant has been lauded in the likes of The Guardian and The Sunday Times, and many believe it’s worthy of a star. Do keep an eye out for Cumbria’s other front-runner, too – Pentonbridge Inn in Carlisle, which was opened by ex-Marcus Wareing head chefs Cassie and Jake White and is now run by Gary McDermott.