Michelin Stars 2009

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Hibiscus and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon were the biggest winners in this year’s Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland – all three London restaurants were awarded two stars. ‘It’s great news, it was a big challenge and we really wanted it’ Claude Bosi, chef-proprietor of Hibiscus, told Square Meal, while Alain Ducasse (pictured right) commented that it was ‘a great honour and a brilliant achievement for the whole team’.

The new two-star restaurants are a typically conservative choice by the folk at French-owned Michelin: all three serve high-end French cuisine and are fronted by French chefs; Hibiscus held two stars before it relocated from Ludlow to London in late 2007; while Robuchon and Ducasse's ever-expanding restaurant empires keep them vying for the title of the world's most Michelin-starred chef. The announcement of Ducasse’s two star (and ‘rising three star’) status came as a particular surprise to Square Meal, with both our own experience and that of readers falling some way short of that offered by other two-star establishments such as Le Gavroche and Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, particularly given the eye-watering prices.

Eight London restaurants were awarded one star. Angela Hartnett’s Murano, Helene Darroze at The Connaught and Jean-Christophe Ansanay-Alex’s Ambassade de L’Ile were the most predictable beneficiaries, all of the chefs having previously held or currently holding stars at other establishments. More unexpected were stars for Chinese restaurant Kai and Italian Ristorante Semplice, both in Mayfair, as well as L’Autre Pied, the younger and more informal sibling of two-star Pied a Terre. Another surprise winner was St John (pictured left). Serving robust, no-frills British food and regularly hailed as one of London’s best eateries, the Clerkenwell restaurant has been open for almost 15 years, and little has changed in the last 12 months.

No new restaurants were awarded three stars, with Bray’s Waterside Inn and Fat Duck plus London’s Restaurant Gordon Ramsay all retaining Michelin's top accolade. 

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LONDON MICHELIN STARS

Three Stars

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

Two Stars

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

The Capital

Hibiscus

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Le Gavroche

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley

Pied a Terre

The Square

One Star

Amaya

Ambassade de L'Ile

Arbutus

Assaggi

Aubergine

Benares

Chapter One

Chez Bruce

Club Gascon

Foliage

Glasshouse

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s

The Greenhouse

Hakkasan

Helene Darroze at The Connaught

Kai

L'Autre Pied

La Trompette

The Ledbury

Locanda Locatelli

Maze

Murano

Nahm

Nobu

Nobu Berkeley St

Quilon

Rasoi Vineet Bhatia

Rhodes Twenty Four

Rhodes W1 Restaurant

Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House

Ristorante Semplice

The River Cafe

Roussillon

Sketch: Lecture Room & Library

St John

Tom Aikens

Umu

Wild Honey

Yauatcha

Zafferano