The Chef Hermes Blog

Leaked: Michelin 2013

Posted by chefhermes on September 27, 2012 · 7 Comments 

Oh dear and yet another year of what is normally the most anticipated guide being released, has been leaked. Not by Amazon being quick out of the blocks, or somebody being in a privileged position on a closed network, but by the French tyre company themselves. Michelin 2013 was out in the open for about an hour.

At 9:34am this morning Bloomberg’s food editor Richard Vines tweeted:

Michelin website shows 2nd stars for L’Enclume and Sketch. One for Tom Aikens, Dabbous, Medlar, Hedone, Hakkasan M, Launceston, Hinds Head

Needless to say I started to trawl through the Michelin website & the star history page, with my printer working working overtime as I’d anticipate Michelin to shut the website down. Keeping one eye on Twitter as to what journalists were tweeting, Kerstin Kuhn from the Caterer posted a short but sweet blog post on Guide girl. I scanned it quickly, but there wasn’t anything I didn’t already know. Printer running out of paper started to give me flash backs of Harrison Ford in Clear & Present Danger, that coupled with several people asking about new & deleted stars.

So, based what I’ve seen so far

New 2 Michelin Stars:

Micheal Wignall at the Latymer, Pennyhill Park

L’enclume, Cartmel

Sketch – The Lecture Room & Library, London

L’Enclume

New 1 Michelin Stars:

Paul Ainsworth at Number 6, Padstow

The Bath Priory, Bath

The Raby Hunt, Summerhouse nr Darlington

Restaurant Tristan, Horsham

Restaurant Alimentum, Cambridge

Thackeray’s Restaurant, Kent

Hinds Head, Bray

The Red Lion Free House, Wiltshire

Alyn Williams at the Westbury, London

Medlar, London

Trishna, London

Launceston Place, London

St Johns Hotel, London

Hedone, London

Dabbous, London

Tom Aikens, London

Locks, Dublin, Eire

Aniar, Galway, Eire

New Bib gourmands:

Cafe Zedel

Copita

Barrica

Elliot’s

Princess of Shoreditch

Made in Camden

Soif

Bistro Union

Empress

Corner Room

Mark Jordan at the Beach, Jersey

Deletions

Obviously it’s not great when a restaurant loses any accolade, but as is the nature of the beast there are some deletions:

Zafferano, London

Gauthier Soho, London

Sharrow Bay, Cumbria

Reads, Faversham, Kent

Auberge du Lac, Hertfordshire

The Olive Branch & beech House, Lincolnshire

Full Michelin 2013 press release

As with every leak I receive it brings a level of mixed emotions; the adrenalin rush that was once a Saturday night service; the scare of possible litigation and the satisfaction of being one of the first.

To the guide itself, Michelin turned there IT fail around in under an hour which in is pretty slow by anybody’s standard, the fact it actually happened is even more remarkable. With the new inclusions there is the usual suspects who have been rated & reviewed by bloggers & journalists alike: Dabbous; Hedone; Alyn Williams & Tom Aikens. While after seeing Chris Pople’s visit to L’enclume earlier this year vs the experience I had in Oct last year, the food looked at lot better & probably deserving of it’s new 2 star status.

As has become de rigueur with Michelin over recent years there are the new star holders which have appeared from completely out of left field. Thats not to take away from the achievement of gaining a star, but they do seem to come from under everybody’s radar. Case in point is The Raby Hunt nr Darlington. Having only been open four years & no real prior formal training, I approached Jamie for a reaction. Naturally disbelief & shock were high orders of the day as he questioned how authentic it was. Unfortunately my printer had completely run out of paper or I would have sent him a scan.

Having discussed this very subject with far more influential food journalists & writers than me, on the topic of why & how the Michelin guide is so revered to cause such a frenzy at release time. Is it the case that having the prefix of ‘Michelin starred chef’ to your name makes chefs perpetuate a less than perfect guide?

My case in point, if you look across the three main guides: GFG; Michelin & AA the differences are shocking.

• Ducasse at the Dorchester: 3 Michelin stars, 3 AA Rosettes & 8/10 GFG
• Tom Aikens: 1 Michelin star, 5 AA Rosettes & sub 7/10 GFG

The usual cries are heard from the masses that Ducasse & Ramsay aren’t worthy of 3 Michelin stars in London, generally without foundation. Yes I’ve eaten at both, all be it a number of years ago. Ducasse Paris was streets ahead of Ducasse London & Ramsay RHR (Royal Hospital Road) lacked the space, grandness & finesse of Ducasse Paris. But respected food blogger Elizabeth on food has, in recent times eaten at both Ducasse Paris & RHR, slating Paris & raving about RHR.

No guide will get it right all of the time including those that claim to be definitive – Yes Hardens I’m looking at you, as by its very nature food is subjective.

Next stop, will Noma get its’ third star?

Update

As of 5pm today, a full 7 1/2 hours after the IT fail was discovered Michelin released this statement via a press release website, concerning the 2013 guide:

(Stoke-on-Trent – 27 September 2012) – The Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2013 will be available in bookshops from Friday 5 October 2012, priced at £15.99 (€18.99 in Ireland).

This year’s guide sees three restaurants promoted from one to two Michelin stars. Sketch, in Mayfair, opened in 2002 and received its first Michelin star in 2005; L’Enclume, in Cartmel also opened in 2002 and was awarded its first Michelin star three years later; while Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Bagshot, opened in 2007 and won its first Michelin star in 2009.

Editor, Rebecca Burr said: “These are three equally worthy recipients of our two star award but each restaurant is very different in nature. Michael Wignall’s cooking offers a distinct sense of sophistication; Jean Denis Le Bras at Sketch has a much more ambitious style; and Simon Rogan’s cooking has steadily evolved and is now much more aligned with nature.”

Eighteen restaurants have been awarded one Michelin star. The furthest north is James Close’s Raby Hunt in Summerhouse, Darlington, while the furthest south is Paul Ainsworth at No.6 in Padstow, Cornwall. There are eight new one star establishments in London.

“I am very pleased to reveal that there are two further pubs included in this year’s star awards,” commented Burr. Heston Blumenthal’s Hinds Head in Bray, and Guy and Britt Manning’s Red Lion Freehouse in East Chisenbury have received this distinction. “This suggests that the trend for British pubs acknowledging diners as well as drinkers, and striving to raise their standards of cooking, is continuing to move in a positive direction.”

“There are also two one star additions in Ireland – Locks Brasserie in Dublin and Aniar in Galway. Like the pubs, these two offer fairly simple surroundings and focus their attention where it really matters: on excellent quality food.”

There are 39 new Bib Gourmands, 11 of which are in London. The Bib Gourmand recognises restaurants offering particularly good value for money – the current limit being £28 for three courses (€40 in Ireland).

“In difficult financial times, establishments awarded a Bib Gourmand have been a real hit with our readers, proving that providing good value for money doesn’t have to mean compromising standards,” concluded Burr.

In total, 346 restaurants and 138 hotels have been added to the guide this year; the “New‟ (N) symbol has been introduced to highlight these establishments.

Also published next Friday is the Michelin Guide London 2013, priced at £10.99 (€12.99 in Ireland). This provides extended text on London’s restaurants, with additional photographs and information on all starred establishments. It also includes a selection of London’s best hotels, across all categories of comfort.

Ends…