Michelin sprinkles 15 new stars
by: Reuters
Restaurants in Great Britain and Ireland were handed 15 new stars by this year's Michelin Guide for the region.
Five of the 15 new stars were awarded to London restaurants Wild Honey, Rhodes W1, Quilon, Hibiscus and La Trompette, two in Scotland to Ballachulish House and Champany Inn, and another two in Dublin to Mint and Malahide.
The rest of the new stars were sprinkled across England. No restaurants were awarded additional stars this year.
"Informal dining, greater use of locally grown produce and seasonality are the trends evident in this year's guide," Michelin Editor Derek Bulmer said.
"Customers are demanding more information about food provenance and sustainability, and chefs are responding by rediscovering local ingredients."
Michelin, whose anonymous inspectors have been rating restaurants for more than 100 years, tipped five other restaurants for a possible star and three for a rise to a two-star rating. It also said there were 33 new Bib Gourmand establishments offering "good food at moderate prices."
The 2008 Guide has 4 567 entries, and of those, 2 748 are hotels and guesthouses and 1 819 are restaurants and pubs; all regularly and anonymously inspected by Michelin's own team of professional inspectors.
The guide will come out alongside the Michelin Guide London 2008 – a new-look guide introduced in 2007 and part of a collection of City guides from New York to Tokyo.
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