London dominates 2024 Michelin Guide

The launch of the 2024 Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland saw a number of establishments gain stars, though London restaurants still firmly rule the roost.

Last night’s ceremony may have been held at The Midland Hotel in Manchester, but the city did not see any change in its number of Michelin-starred restaurants, with the figure still standing at one as Mana retained its star.

However, Manchester’s rival to the title of ‘England’s second city’, Birmingham, has certainly beaten it in this particular edition of the guide as chef patron Aktar Islam’s Indian fine dining restaurant Opheem became the first restaurant in the Brum to recieve two Michelin Stars.

Gymkahana in London, another take on Indian fine dining, mirrored this success. Also triumphant in reaching the two star category was Trivet, chef Jonny Lake and sommelier Isa Bal’s London Bridge restaurant that was bumped up from one star to two, Brooklands by Claude Bosi at the newly-opened The Peninsula London, Terre in Castlemartyr (County Cork), and The Glenturret Lalique, the restaurant set inside the Glenturret distillery in Crieff.

London did extremely well when it came to the 18 new inclusions to the list of one Michelin Star eateries, with a further 11 from the capital joining the already sizeable roster. Mountain, Brat founder Tomas Parry’s new woodfire-focused restaurant in Soho, gained a spot, as did the similarly smoky Humo (reviewed last year by Wine List Confidential author Douglas Blyde), and yakitori spot Humble Chicken also took a place. Sushi Kanesaka, which hit the headlines for banning its guests from wearing perfume, received a star, as did Chishuru, Adejoké Bakare’s take on West African cuisine in Ftizrovia, and Simon Rogan’s recently-redesigned chef’s table experience Aulis.

When it comes to the top honour of three Michelin Star status, there was only one new addition to this pantheon of restaurants – Notting Hill’s The Ledbury. According to Michelin, its inspectors “had never eaten better here and the dishes were everything they expected of a restaurant with this highest of gastronomic honours”.

Indeed, of the nine restaurants in the UK and Ireland to have the royal flush of stars, seven of them are in London and two, The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn, are in Bray.

Six new Michelin Green Stars, restaurants commended for their approach to sustainability, were added, bringing the total in the UK & Ireland to 33.

The 20 new Bib Gourmands offer a more geographically varied selection, with the likes of Lark in Bury St. Edmunds (Suffolk), Solas in Dingle (County Kerry) and Touring Club in Penarth (Glamorgan) providing an antidote to a very London-centric selection. Indeed, of the 20 new additions, just two (Les 2 Garçons and Empire Empire) were from London. Overall, 82 of the just-over 200 British and Irish restaurants to have stars are in London.

As with each edition of the Michelin Guide, there were winners, and there were losers.

Some restaurants, such as Le Gavroche, Marcus, The Cellar, Eipic and SY23, lost their places simply because they have closed down. However, others that are still operating were stripped of star status.

It was a particularly rough evening for Mohari Hospitality, which acquired restaurant Tao last year – both Hakkasan Hanway Place and Hakkasan Mayfair lost their place. Another high profile restaurant to lose its spots was Barrafina Dean Street, which had held its star for a decade prior to yesterday evening.