All In One Ultimate Restaurant List: Autumn 2013 Update

So far the Ledbury, Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley and The Square are holding on tightly to their top 3 positions, but with the latest Michelin stars awarded to a host of exciting new restaurants this could change very soon.

Whether you live by a Michelin rating checklist or are of the view that the awards have had their day, Michelin stars are without doubt the most coveted prize in the restaurant industry. This summer we predicted great things for Peruvian eatery Lima, ex-Noma Tom Sellers’ Story, and the Hakkasan group’s new modern Chinese HKK; all three were given their first star in October. Other recipients were fish restaurants Angler and Outlaw’s, Jason Atherton’s Social Eating House, acclaimed chef Eric Chavot’s Brasserie Chavot, modern Basque eatery Ametsa with Arzak Instruction, and Bo London, the “extreme Chinese” famed for an edible condom (find out what else impressed us here). We’re anticipating high new entries from all of these in the coming months.

Now that the hype of winning its first star in 2012 has died down, Medlar has dropped from position 14 to 31. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon has fallen nine places to no. 27, after losing one of its two stars, but given that Robuchon has more Michelin stars than any other chef (27 by our calculations) we’re sure he’s picked himself up by now.

This year’s biggest success story (aside from winners the Ledbury of course) was Pitt Cue Co, the former BBQ food truck now drawing patience-testing queues at its permanent Soho establishment. Entering the list at no. 10 - higher even than Dabbous – it’s since plummeted to no. 25.

Now on to the climbers. Kensington veteran Launceston Place was once best known for being a favourite of Lady Di’s; with Tim Allen at the helm it received its first Michelin star in 2012. That same year it re-entered our list at no. 67, but has reached its highest ranking so far at no. 29.

Angela Hartnett’s profile is on the up thanks to new openings Merchant’s Tavern in Shoreditch and Café Murano on the old site of Petrus, where she once trained under Gordon Ramsay. Older sibling Murano has scaled 13 positions to no. 20, perhaps aided by an impressive jump of 40 places on the Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants list, released earlier this month.

A few restaurants that had disappeared have crept back in to the lower echelons of the list: French cuisine purveyors Morgan M and Angelus, plus old favourites Odette’s and Scott’s - the latter’s recent headlines involving loyal customer Charles Saatchi proving the old adage that all publicity is good publicity.


To see the full list and find out how it’s compiled, click here.