Michelin Guide 2019: a look at every new Michelin-starred restaurant

Core by Clare Smyth was as close to a shoe-in this year as any restaurant in the country, but the inner workings of Michelin are never truly predictable, and it’s a testament to Clare’s talent that she jumped straight in at a two-star level. The former Royal Hospital Road head chef has been on a roll this year, winning the controversial ‘Best Female Chef’ award at The World’s 50 Best, and then catering for this year’s royal wedding. As for Core, the menu speaks to her past as chef-patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay – precise, classical cooking, executed with peerless technique. Given her pedigree, a third star is surely not out of the question.

When Bubbledogs launched some years ago, Instagram lit up with gourmet hot dogs and Champagne flutes, but tucked away around the back is Kitchen Table – a twenty-cover restaurant that has steadily emerged as one of the very best in the UK and Ireland. Head chef James Knappett curates a daily-changing menu – with an emphasis on foraged ingredients – and cooks from his station in front of his twenty guests, drawing on his experience from world-renowned restaurants like Noma and Per Se to deliver extremely accomplished, modern British food.

One of the rising stars of the industry, Mark Birchall won a second star a year after winning his first at Moor Hall in Aughton, Lancashire. Mark places huge importance on sourcing with the produce being the star of the show, but the kitchen uses plenty of modern techniques to elevate dishes to the very highest level. The surrounding landscape is also nothing short of spectacular.

This charming old inn in the hamlet of Bagnor outside Newbury is another sign of changing times at Michelin – there’s no doubt that this is the sort of relaxed, unfussy neighbourhood restaurant that might not have qualified for the guide some years ago. The menu is top-notch, with quality local ingredients turned into stunning dishes with plenty of French influences.

Tucked away above Smoking Goat in Shoreditch, Tomos Parry’s first solo venture has turned into a huge success in an incredibly short space of time. Talk was of whether Brat had been open long enough to find its way into the guide this year, but such is the excellence of Tomos’ Welsh and Patagonian cooking, the restaurant has received a star after just six months. The whole roast turbot – cooked over lumpwood charcoal in hand-made baskets – may just be one of the hottest dishes of the year.

A neighbourhood restaurant with global aspirations, Bulrush is another feather in Bristol’s ever-growing culinary cap, joining the likes of Casamia, Paco Tapas, Wilks and The Pony & Trap (in nearby Chew Magna). There’s a large emphasis on pickling and preserving and the food is technical and innovative, with a menu that boasts dishes like heritage tomato, sheep’s milk ice cream and nettle sauce, and truffle ice cream with croissant mousse and caramel apples.

This old neighbourhood pub in beautiful Ballydehob, County Cork has been transformed by chef Rob Krawczyk and his partner Elaine into a seriously elegant restaurant. The menu is packed with intelligent twists on classic flavour combinations like scallops with cauliflower, ink and nasturtium, brill with mussels and lovage and strawberries with lemon verbena.

Officially the smallest town in England, Fordwich now boasts a Michelin star restaurant to its name. Not only that; this is another neighbourhood-style pub that acts as both a local community hub and a destination restaurant. A small kitchen team here keeps everything in-house – from baking bread and butchery to meat curing and butter churning – and turns out seriously impressive dishes at the same time, like the superb pheasant dumplings with roasted onion and herb broth.

Gidleigh Park has a long and storied history at a two Michelin star level, with Michael Caines and Michael Wignall both establishing the magnificent country house as one of the UK’s best dining destinations. Big shoes to fill for sure for Chris Simpson – the old head chef at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw – but he has done admirably in earning a Michelin star so quickly with his classic, elegant dishes, including Anjou squab pigeon with parsnip, bacon and onion dressing, and Monkfish with Jerusalem artichoke, chicken dressing and seaweed.

This grand restaurant overlooking Green Park had more hype and buzz surrounding it than any other restaurant opening this year for several reasons. It marked a return to the dining scene for Ollie Dabbous, an incredibly talented chef; it was backed by the owner of Hedonism Wines Yevgeny Chichvarkin and boasts one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the city (which must have cost an eye-watering amount of money). The food itself is just as stunning as the surroundings, with a focus on natural organic plating, incredible ingredients and Ollie’s most ambitious, refined and complex dishes to date. Money well spent.

Head chef Takashi Miyazaki has adapted his Japanese technique and flavour around the local fish and produce of Ireland, creating an intelligent, unique monthly omakase menu in Cork. The restaurant is only small, and you might need to book well in advance to get a seat, but it’s worth the effort to see the chef up close and personal, preparing dishes like ox tongue with egg white, wild garlic and onion sauce, and soy milk with chocolate, rice cake, mocha and whiskey.

We were blown away by Ikoyi when we visited the restaurant this time last year – the West African-inspired food taps into myriad influences and inspirations, to create an experience that for most of us, is a real journey into the unknown. Clearly, we weren’t the only ones, as Michelin’s inspectors saw fit to award the restaurant a star just a year after it opened. In Jeremy Chan, Ikoyi has a meticulous, diligent chef with genuinely innovative ideas – this is a real experience for adventurous foodies.

Leroy epitomises the relaxed feel of the rising food scene in east London – after all, the first thing you see as you walk in is two shelves of vinyl. Leroy is the reincarnation of Ellory, which also held a star until the owners decided to move from Hackney to Shoreditch, taking advantage of bizarrely cheaper rents further into central London. Still, Michelin are just as taken with Leroy as they were with Ellory – the dishes are pared-back and unpretentious, with produce being allowed to shine through in every plate. Don’t miss the brill with beurre blanc, borage and sorrel, or the Sauternes crème caramel.

County Cork has been a clear winner in the Michelin Guide this year, boasting three brand new entries. Mews makes the most of Cork’s fantastic produce, buying fish daily from the nearby harbour and bringing in meat and fish from the surrounding area, creating dishes that promote the best of Irish flavours like cod with shore greens, seaweeds and mussel sauce, and wild sorrel with elderflower, elderberry and Alexanders (also known as horse parsley).

An airy, intimate restaurant with a lovely bar and a beautiful summer terrace attached – Olive Tree caters for all sorts of visitors, and is leading the way for Bath’s rapidly evolving food scene. The dishes may seem simple, but they’re executed with aplomb by a skilful kitchen team that values the exceptional quality of local ingredients. Check out the asparagus with smoked eel, spring onion and Exmoor caviar, and the stunning Gariguette strawberry with meringue, mascarpone, orange blossom and basil.

Oxford Kitchen is tucked away in nearby Summertown, but Paul Welburn’s cooking is more than worth the trip if you’re in the area. Having worked with luminaries like Gary Rhodes and Richard Corrigan, Paul is an extremely experienced and well-travelled chef, and that shines through in his food at Oxford Kitchen, where he takes classic flavour combinations and gives them innovative modern touches.