Michelin Guide 2018: New Michelin star restaurants revealed

Michelin Guide 2018: a look at the new Michelin-starred restaurants

by Pete Dreyer 2 October 2017

The 2018 Michelin Guide for the UK and Ireland has been revealed, and seventeen new restaurants have been awarded Michelin stars. Read on for a more detailed look at this year's Michelin Guide newcomers.

Pete Dreyer

Pete worked as a food writer at Great British Chefs.

Pete Dreyer

Pete worked as a food writer at Great British Chefs and trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London. Although there’s very little he won’t eat, his real passion is health and nutrition, and showing people that healthy food can be delicious too. When he’s not writing or cooking, you’ll probably find him engrossed in a bowl of pho.

The 2018 Michelin Guide results are in for another year, and we have another class of newcomers to the world's most prestigious culinary guide. But many of these newcomers aren't actually newcomers at all. After leaving their old establishments for pastures new, luminaries like Phil Howard, Claude Bosi and Michael Caines were all eligible to return to the Michelin fold this year, and all three earned a spot in the guide, with Claude jumping straight in at two stars after a stupendous start to life at Bibendum.

There are plenty of genuine newcomers to the guide too. Simon Rogan protégé Mark Birchall gained a star at Moor Hall in Lancashire, as did Fred Clapperton at The Clock House in Ripley. Matt Worswick and Niall Keating both successfully retained a single star for The Latymer and Whatley Manor respectively. And in London, A. Wong, La Dame de Pic and plush Indian restaurant Jamavar were all among the winners.

Want to know more? Read about all this year's new Michelin star winners below and check out the full guide by clicking here.

Bibendum

Bibendum

by Claude Bosi

In London's historic restaurant scene, Bibendum has a special place of honour. The likes of Simon Hopkinson, Jeremy Lee and Henry Harris, among others, have patrolled the kitchen there in years past, and the restaurant's influence on London is incalculable. In Claude Bosi, the historic restaurant has found the perfect man to give it a new lease of life, and the Frenchman's sophisticated and technical cooking has earned Bibensum two stars straight off the bat.

Lympstone Manor

by Michael Caines

Michael Caines made Gidleigh Park iconic in his twenty-one years there, holding two Michelin stars for the majority of that time. When he left to start a new venture, everyone knew it was only a matter of time until his name was back in the Michelin Guide, and sure enough, his expert cookery has earned Lympstone Manor a Michelin star just six months after opening.

The Latymer

by Matt Worswick

The chain set in motion by Michael Caines when he left Gidleigh Park resulted in Matt Worswick taking the reins at The Latymer, after Michael Wignall left to man the kitchen at Gidleigh. He has now earned back one of the restaurant's two lost Michelin stars from a year ago. If you're looking for intricate, technical dishes, The Latymer is definitely worth a visit, boasting dishes like Smoked eel, pickled turnip, compressed apple and dashi, and Smoked baba ganoush, cardamom yoghurt and Bombay mix.

Coworth Park

Sitting in the heart of leafy Berkshire, produce is everything for the restaurant at Coworth Park. Michelin's inspectors praised chef Adam Smith for his classic British cooking and commitment to local ingredients, with his spring lamb with sweetbreads, artichoke and aubergine singled out for particular praise.

The Clock House

Ones to watch: Fred Clapperton

by Great British Chefs

We picked out Fred Clapperton as a chef to watch earlier this year, and he's come up trumps in this year's Michelin Guide, winning a star at The Clock House in Ripley. The Clock House was previously known as Drake's, but has survived a change of name and chef. Fred has made his mark on the menu by mixing classic dishes with slightly more unusual combinations, like Norfolk quail, fennel and black curry.

The Dining Room at Whatley Manor

When Martin Burge stepped down as executive chef at The Dining Room at Whatley Manor late last year, the restaurant's two Michelin stars left with him. Fortunately, Whatley Manor found a star in twenty-five-year-old Niall Keating, who has ably stepped into the fray since, and won back one of their Michelin stars with a clever Asian-influenced menu.

Moor Hall

Ones to watch: Mark Birchall

by Tom Shingler

Simon Rogan protégé Mark Birchall was hotly tipped to earn a place in the Michelin Guide this year at Moor Hall, and sure enough, the inspectors sent a star his way this year. Mark's time at L'Enclume is very evident in his ethos at Moor Hall, as he takes locally sourced ingredients and applies incredible amounts of skill to elevate them to new heights.

The Coach

Just down the road from The Hand and Flowers in Marlow, you'll find The Coach – Tom Kerridge's second pub in the town. The Coach is more pub than restaurant and serves unpretentious pub fare, albeit with a touch of refinement. Dishes like mussels marinière with warm stout and brown bread, and chicken Kiev with cauliflower cheese are typical of the restaurant, and you can enjoy them with a pint in front of the rugby on the telly.

Paco Tapas

A new venture for Casamia's Peter Sanchez-Iglesias and family, Paco Tapas is another feather in the cap of Bristol's buzzing food scene. Named after Peter's father, Paco Tapas turns out beautiful plates of authentic Andalusian tapas, like boquerones, tortilla española and grilled squid, using the best local and Spanish produce.

Loch Bay

Michael Smith, chef at The Three Chimneys

Michael Smith, chef at Loch Bay

by Great British Chefs

Michael Smith has been championing Skye as a gastronomic destination for decades now, and as Michelin's inspectors said themselves, his cooking at Loch Bay is as good as it has ever been. Michael mixes Scottish food with French technique, serving dishes like Highland pigeon and hare with cauliflower, chanterelles and spiced bacon, and twice-dived Sconser scallops with squash, hazelnut and claret to a couple of dozen diners at a time.

Wild Honey Inn

The Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare is the first pub to win a Michelin star in Ireland, under the guidance of chef Aidan McGrath. His food is modern and stylish, with classical French undertones, and Wild Honey Inn puts real emphasis on provenance, getting almost all their ingredients from County Clare. Be aware – they don't take bookings!

A Wong

by Andrew Wong

Andrew Wong's guide to China

by Tom Shingler

Andrew Wong's journey has been a special one. He abandoned a place at Oxford University to return to the kitchen at his parents' restaurant in Victoria. After six months in China learning the ins and outs of region Chinese food, Andrew has led the restaurant – named A Wong after his parents Albert and Annie – to a Michelin star, making it one of the hottest destinations in the capital.

Jamavar

The original Jamavar earned rave reviews when it opened in Banagalore in 2001, as a place where diners could eat the very best food from the north and south of India. Now Jamavar has come to London's Mayfair, bringing the best of Indian regional cuisine along with it, inspired by chef Rohit Ghai's travels around the subcontinent. With Rohit's pedigree in the kitchens of Benares and Gymkhana, it's no surprise that the lavish restaurant has earned a Michelin star, just a year after opening.

La Dame de Pic

At La Dame de Pic, Anne-Sophie Pic now has a Michelin star in London to join her star in Paris, and her three stars at Maison Pic in Valence. Her style is still haute cuisine at its very finest, taking exquisite ingredients, combining them in unusual ways and presenting them with the absolute highest level of intricacy. Her royal sea bream with Tasmanian pepper berry, finger lemon, junmai sake ice cream and Petrossian caviar is a perfect encapsulation of this, and just one dish amongst many that has been wowing diners since La Dame de Pic opened in January this year.

Vineet Bhatia London

Vineet Bhatia London

by Vineet Bhatia

Acclaimed chef Vineet Bhatia is no stranger to the Michelin Guide, earning stars for his own restaurants in the past (specifically Rasoi). But Vineet Bhatia London is the culmination of his efforts, and the Michelin star is well-deserved. The tasting menu focuses around the food Vineet loved growing up in Mumbai, but combines it with all sorts of international influences. On top of that, both the presentation and flavour combinations lean towards the avant-garde: think butter chicken macarons and kheema ‘bombs’. Set inside a Georgian townhouse, it’s an intimate restaurant with incredible service. A lot of the crockery is like nothing you’ve seen before, and is chosen by Vineet’s wife Rashima, who also looks after front of house.

Aquavit

New Nordic has already cemented itself as one of the world’s greatest cuisines, and restaurants like London-based Aquavit bring the taste of Scandinavia to the UK. It’s actually an outpost of the original Aquavit in New York (which holds two Michelin stars), but the dishes in the British restaurant – think shrimp, herring and smorgasbords – are certainly worthy of a star. The casual, brasserie-style décor and relaxed atmosphere means this is a place where you can talk, have fun and enjoy the food in front of you; exactly how it should be.

Elystan Street

by Phil Howard

When Phil Howard left The Square in early 2016, it was the end of an era for a London institution that has trained its fair share of great chefs around the world. Still, times change, and we should be very thankful for Elystan Street, which eschews the trappings of fine dining for a more sustainable approach to food. Bottled water is out of the door, wastage is composted on site, and the menu is seasonal and largely vegetarian, but Phil's technical mastery is still as present as ever.