The 2011 Michelin Guide for Britain and Ireland has been released, awarding 14 new Michelin stars to U.K. restaurants and removing 11 others in this 100th anniversary special edition.
"There is no doubt that 2010 was a difficult year but those hotels and restaurants that represented value for money, at whatever price, were the ones who were best placed to weather the storm," said Rebecca Burr, the guide’s Editor-in-Chief.
The Connaught in London and the Rock in Cornwall both joined the ranks with two-star ratings. The Pony & Trap in the small English village of Chew Magna, managed to get one star, showing that even pub grub can be tasty.
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, of TV’s Hell’s Kitchen, managed to hold on to his London restaurant’s three-star rating, along with Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck and Alain Roux’s Waterside Inn, both in Berkshire.
Nine of the eleven deletions come from England, including two restaurants that had closed. The Scottish Highlands and Belfast, Ireland both saw one deletion each.
The first Michelin Guide to Britain and Ireland was printed in 1911 as an instructional book for motorists. The current version of the guide has been updated and published every year since 1974.