Simon Rogan's L'Enclume scores 10/10 in 2013 Good Food Guide
Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck has retained its place as the UK's best restaurant in the Good Food Guide but Simon Rogan's L'Enclume in Cumbria has equalled its score of a perfect 10.
It is the first time Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, has been rivalled by another restaurant scoring 10/10 in the Good Food Guide, which today released its 2013 edition.
Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor of the Good Food Guide, said L'Enclume is in a league of its own and uniquely mind-blowing.
"It's a world-class destination, in harmony with its local community. Rogan has taken matters into his own hands and found a way of creating miracles from nature, while respecting its bounty and responding to its seasonal capriciousness," she said.
"Even more impressive is the fact that L'Enclume can deliver all of this without a battalion of chefs or a troupe of front-of-house staff; instead, everyone is in tune, and it shows in hugely committed, impressively informed service."
Rogan (pictured) said he was over the moon. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would get the maximum score," he said.
"It's brilliant for the team as now we are among a very elite company of people who have achieved this status, but we will continue to push forward with all the projects we have going on up here and try our best to make it even better."
Restaurant Sat Bains, which last year gained its second Michelin star, retained its third place in the Good Food Guide‘s top 50 list of UK restaurants, with Restaurant Gordon Ramsay remaining in fourth position scoring an almost perfect 9/10.
A total of four restaurants were rated 9/10, including Nathan Outlaw in fifth and Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social in sixth place, both of whom are up from 8/10 last year.
Atherton commented: "It's been a boyhood dream of mine, since coming down to work in London at the age of 16 and working in restaurants with 9 or 10 out of 10 like Chez Nico and La Tante Claire, to finally have my signature restaurant with that grading. Nine out of 10 takes us in to the higher echelons of British gastronomy and it's a dream come true."
The remainder of the top 10 is made up of Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons; Claude Bosi's Hibiscus; Phil Howard's the Square; and Brett Graham's Ledbury, all of which scored 8/10.
The*Good Food Guide*‘s Top 50 UK Restaurants:
1. The Fat Duck, Berkshire (10)
2. L'Enclume, Cumbria (10)
3. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottinghamshire (9)
4. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road, London (9)
5. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (9)
6. Pollen Street Social, London (9)
7. Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxfordshire (8)
8. Hibiscus, London (8)
9. The Square, London (8)
10. The Ledbury, London (8)
11. Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, London (8)
12. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucestershire (8)
13. Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House, Buckinghamshire (8)
14. Le Gavroche, London (8)
15. Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London (8)
16. Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire (8)
17. The Waterside Inn, Berkshire (7)
18. Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire (7)
19. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (7)
20. Pied-à-Terre, London (7)
21. The Kitchin, Edinburgh (7)
22. Murano, London (7)
23. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (7)
24. Gidleigh Park, Devon (7)
25. Fraiche, Merseyside (7)
26. Robert Thompson at the Hambrough, Isle of Wight (7)
27. The Crown at Whitebrook, Gwent (7)
28. The Pass, West Sussex (7)
29. Michael Wignall, the Latymer at Pennyhill Park Hotel, Surrey (7)
30. Fischer's Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (7)
31. Hambleton Hall, Rutland (7)
32. The Peat Inn, Fife (7)
33. Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Tayside (7)
34. The Old Vicarage, Derbyshire (7)
35. The Artichoke, Buckinghamshire (7)
36. The Hand & Flowers, Buckinghamshire (6)
37. Purnell's, West Midlands (6)
38. Tyddyn Llan, Denbighshire (6)
39. Mr Underhill's, Shropshire (6)
40. Bohemia, Jersey (6)
41. The Sportsman, Kent (6)
42. The Creel, Orkney (6)
43. Simon Radley at Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire (6)
44. The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill, North Yorkshire (6)
45. The Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berkshire (6)
46. Galvin La Chapelle, London (6)
47. Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Cornwall (6)
48. The Box Tree, West Yorkshire (6)
49. Castle Terrace, Edinburgh (6)
50. Tuddenham Mill, Suffolk (6)
By Kerstin Kühn
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