Michelin Launches Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2009

The latest edition of our national Michelin Guide, ‘Great Britain & Ireland 2009’, is scheduled for a January 23 release. This year it carries a price tag of £15.99 in Britain and 19.99 euros in Ireland

Included in this year’s guide are four new two-star restaurants (The Dining Room at Whatley Manor, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Hibiscus and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon) and 26 new one star establishments. Making-up the list of ‘Rising Stars’ for 2009 are three establishments tipped for two stars (Tom Aikens, The Ledbury and Nathan Outlaw) and one that’s tipped for three stars (Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester). There are also 21 new Bib Gourmand establishments offering ‘good food at moderate prices’ – three courses for less than £28 (40 euros in Ireland).

Commenting on this year’s selection, editor, Derek Bulmer said “we have never awarded so many stars in a single year before. We can now boast of having a truly mature, rich and exciting restaurant scene. These new stars have been awarded to a host of establishments from gastro pubs and family-run locals, to country hotels and fashionable London restaurants. Among these we have new stars for Chinese, Italian, French and British cuisine.

“There is now a better geographical spread of starred restaurants throughout the country from the Isle of Wight to Lochinver in the Scottish Highlands, and the four new stars in Scotland is particularly good news,” he added. “We have also seen an increase in the number of refreshingly informal restaurants where the cooking is very good.

“This was another good year for London. With plenty of new restaurant openings, the capital can boast of having the one of the most varied and diverse restaurant scenes in the world.

“However, there is no doubt that 2009 will bring challenging times for hotels and restaurants. I am hopeful that the hospitality industry will prove to be resilient; that customers continue to support their local pub or restaurant and that dining out will remain part of our lives. Our inspectors will continue to search out those establishments which not only maintain their standards but also offer value for money to their customers.”

The 2009 Guide has 4,207 entries, and of those, 2,516 are hotels and guesthouses and 1,691 are restaurants and pubs; all regularly and anonymously inspected by Michelin’s own team of professional inspectors. Launched at the same time as the Britain & Ireland guide is the Michelin Guide London 2009, priced at £9.99 (12.99 euros in Ireland). This new-look guide was introduced in 2007 and forms part of Michelin’s collection of ‘City’ guides. It features two entries per page for non-starred establishments and one entry per page for starred eateries.

Michelin has taken the opportunity offered by the Guide’s launch to share a little of what goes into the production of each edition. According to the French tyre major, throughout the year 86 Michelin guide inspectors are on the road, travelling anonymously and each eating around 250 restaurant meals, visiting more than 800 establishments and writing some 1,100 reports. At present Europe is home to 70 of these inspectors, ten are based in the US and, at present, six cover the Asia region.