England gains 13 new Michelin stars
England has been awarded a total of 13 new Michelin stars in this year's Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland](http://www.michelinguide.com/us/guide.html).
Eight additional stars were given in London with restaurants Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester and Brett Graham's the Ledbury being promoted to three- and two-Michelin-star status, respectively, while six restaurants were recognised with one-Michelin-star status. However, the regions in England, too, gained a handful of new one-stars.
In total there were five new one-Michelin star restaurants in England, outside of London.
Among those gaining recognition in England were pub-restaurants the Pipe and Glass Inn in South Dalton, East Yorkshire and Berkshire's the Royal Oak at Paley Street, near Bray. At the former, chef-proprietor James Mackenzie, previously head chef at Andrew Pern's Michelin-lauded Star Inn in North Yorkshire, learnt of the accolade from his old boss.
The early release of this year's guide caught many people by surprise. Dominic Chapman, head chef at the Royal Oak, owned by Michael Parkinson and his son Nick, discovered his restaurant's award via a peek at social website, Twitter. "I did my usual afternoon check and thought 'no this isn't true!' It's still not sunk in yet."
Chapman added: "We've got a busy service to do tonight, but some Champagne's definitely going to be cracked later for sure. It's brilliant for everybody: I've phoned the chefs to tell them, I've phoned my Dad [restaurateur Kit Chapman], I've phoned Nick Parkinson [the owner] - I even phoned Michelin to see if it was true.
One of the smallest establishments to gain recognition this year was Sienna restaurant in the Dorset market town of Dorchester. Chef-proprietor Russell and his wife Elena opened the 15-seat restaurant in 2003.
Reacting to the news of its one-Michelin-star accolade which makes Sienna the only Michelin star in Dorset, Russell said: "I'm a bit gobsmacked really. I heard through my recruitment consultant who'd seen it on a website. Every chef who's cooking seriously of course wants a Michelin star, it's the Holy Grail. We're a tiny little restaurant in a relatively small market town and it's important - good for business and certainly good for staff. We'll celebrate after service tonight."
Rising stars in England including Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, who was given rising two star status, and The Marquis, Alkham, Kent, The Black Swan, Oldstead, North Yorkshire and Rosel and Co., Padstow, Cornwall who were all awarded rising one star status.
New stars in England
Three starsAlain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Mayfair, London
Two starsThe Ledbury, North Kensington, London
One starThe Harwood Arms, Fulham, London
Bingham Restaurant at the Bingham Hotel, Richmond-upon-Thames
Apsleys - a Heinz Beck restaurant at the Lanesborough hotel, Belgravia
Galvin at Windows at the London Hilton on Park Lane, Mayfair, London
Tamarind, Mayfair, London
Texture, Mayfair, London
The Samling, Ambleside, Cumbria
The Pipe & Glass, Beverly/South Dalton, Yorkshire
The Royal Oak, Paley Street, near Bray, Berkshire
The Goose, Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire
Sienna, Dorchester, Dorset
Rising stars in England
Rising two stars
Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor
Rising one star
The Marquis, Alkham, Kent
The Black Swan, Oldstead, North Yorkshire
Rosel and Co, Padstow, Cornwall
Deletions
Two stars
The Capital, Chelsea, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, Berkshire
One stars
Aubergine, Chelsea, London
Ambassade de L'lle, South Kensington, London
Assaggi, Bayswater & Maida Vale, London
Foliage (at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park), Knightsbridge, London
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, Mayfair, London
Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House, Soho, London
Bath Priory, Bath, Bath & North East Somerset
Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, Brockenhurst, Hampshire
Christophe, Germain Bay, Guernsey
Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall
Seaham Hall, Durham
Michelin stars released by the new Michelin Guide >>
Alain Ducasse and Brett Graham are the big Michelin winners in London >>
Wales gains three new Michelin stars >>
Three more Michelin stars for Scotland >>
Ireland gains one new Michelin star >>
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's heads the list of lost Michelin stars >>
Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland names 28 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands >>
Top Michelin-rated restaurants >>
Michelin Rising Stars - how useful are they? >>
By Joanna Wood
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