Michelin Restaurants Year by Year

The 2007 series of Guides started with New York, which dropped Alain Ducasse (at least temporarily) since it is in the process of moving premises. No doubt it will be restored next year. They gave an Indian restaurant (Devi) a star, which seems to have been greeted with mild bewilderment in some foodie circles, but then if this choice is as weird as their London selection of Indian places then I am not surprised it has caused a stir. Most of the Michelin “2007” country guides come out around January 2006. I will update the master list of 3 star places as news becomes available.

In 2006 there is a new 3 star in Spain: Carme Ruscalleda's Sant Pau in Sant Pol de Mar. Also a new one in Holland: Oud Sluis. There is one in Rome called La Pergola, which I am reliably informed in over-rated, while in France Olivier Roellinger in Brittany has been elevated to three stars at last. Germany’s tally goes up to seven with the promotion of Christian Bau’s Schloss Berg in Perl. The 2006 Michelin “Main Cities of Europe” guide has changed format from previous years, and no longer show the 3 star places that are outside the main cities covered. Hence it is impossible to be completely certain about the status of places outside these other than by buying 20 individual country guide books and ploughing through them page by page. I thought Michelin had set the standard in user-unfriendliness, but with this move they have raised the bar yet higher in this regard; perhaps next they’ll start putting the starred places in code, or making us do a treasure hunt to reveal the ratings. Hence my apologies if there are any inaccuracies in 2006; as far as I know these are correct – let me know if not.

In the UK there are no new 3 star places in 2006. Changes of significance are as follows. There is one new 2 star in the UK: Auchterarder in Perth, Scotland. Putney Bridge lost its star by virtue of closing altogether, as did 13 places in the country including the Lygon Arms and Chewton Glen. There are 18 new 1 star places. In London congratulations to the Ledbury, which thoroughly deserves its star. Also honoured with a star are Maze (fair enough), Nobu Berkeley (they have to be kidding) and two flashy but overrated Indian places, Amaya and Rasoi Vineet Bhathia. Michelin continues to value décor over cooking when t comes to Indian food, with Amaya you have great décor but only very ordinary food. Vineet Bhatia can cook, but not well on my visit there, and it is very pricy. A pretty stable year for the UK.

In November 2005 Michelin ventured out of Europe as far as New York, and I have to say I wonder whether this was wise. The French Laundry is the best restaurant in America, so its sister Per Se and Alain Ducasse’s outlet may be worthy of 3 stars, but Jean Georges is not in this league while the meal I had at Bernardin was actually quite poor; perhaps I went on an off night. Daniel is a fair two star based on my experience. I worry whether Michelin has spread itself too thin based on these rather curious ratings at the top.

In October 2006 it published a guide to the San Francisco area, correctly giving the French Laundry three stars. It will no doubt cause controversy since it gave Gary Danko just one star, which seems to me spot on but will no doubt upset the locals.

In 2005 there is a new 3 star in the south of France, while two French places were demoted: Lameloise (undeservedly) and Jardin des Sens (very deservedly). Michelin refused to touch the dinosaurs like Georges Blanc and instead demotes the pleasant but less famous Lameloise. New in are Hof van Cleve near Bruges and Vendom in Germany, so the total number of three stars edges up to 50 in all (there were just 20 in 1995). There was little change in the UK, with a couple of new 1 stars, Umu, the excellent value Yauatcha and the ludicrously overpriced Sketch in London. Birmingham sees a star with Simpsons.

In 2004 there was little movement in France, though Boyer lost its third star and Cotes St Jacques regained its third star. There were two new French entries at l’Esperance (why?) and Loges de l’Aubergade (deservedly). In the UK Heston Blumenthal was surprised to receive his third star, proof that a grand setting cuisine is not a necessity, and that serving scrambled egg ice-cream is no barrier to entry to the elite. The rather overrated Bruneau in Brussels finally lost its third star, and the Netherlands bafflingly gained a second 3 star place, in the form of the merely pleasant de Librije. In Italy the dismal Enotecca Piniciorri bewilderingly regained its 3rd star after a long-overdue demotion in the late 1990s.

In 2003 saw few surprises or indeed changes of any kind. Le Cinq in Paris came in at a well-deserved three stars, making a vast list of ten 3 stars now in Paris. Sanity finally prevailed and the Louis XV in Monaco was restored to its deserved 3 stars. The UK saw some sensible moves: I was delighted to see my favourite Pied a Terre restored to two stars. New single star entries were Locanda Locatelli (they must have gone on a good night) and the Greenhouse. Hakkasan became that rare bird: a Chinese Michelin starred place, a little generous perhaps on the food alone but helped by its great décor. Gordon Ramsay at Claridges scraped in with one star, but the new Connaught under the same ownership did not make it.

In 2002 a couple of places were demoted (Au Crocodile in Strasbourg, Dom Alfonso in Italy) , but there are still some dinosaurs with three stars (e.g. Georges Blanc, Grand Vefour) which are not really 3 star level but rather institutions. Spain added another 3 star place in the Basque region, while the Netherlands for the first time gained a 3 star for the excellent Park Heuvel in Rotterdam. The talented but eccentric Marc Veyrat opened a second place for the winter, and got a third star for his new Ferme de mon Pere while retaining 3 stars for his original Auberge de L’Eridan; hence he has two 3 star places, but closes one while he moves to the other. Ledoyen in Paris was elevated to 3 stars, and finally Guy Savoy got his third star in Paris. L’Arnsbourg in Alsace was rightly promoted.

In 2001 – quel horreur – they put an Englishman (Derek Brown) in charge of the Guide Michelin, prompting various front-page headlines in France. Michelin has never liked large commercial enterprises, preferring to support chefs who toil for their art, hence the eternally surprising two stars for Raymond Blanc at the Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, which is largely owned by a big corporation (Virgin). In 2000 they tolerated Alain Ducasse opening a second restaurant in Paris and granted both places three stars (a first) but in 2001 year he went too far by opening in New York. The punishment: the Louis XV downgraded to two stars, an absurdity that was corrected in 2003.

In total there were 29 three-star Michelin restaurants in 1993, rising to 37 in 2000 and in 2001, but 42 in 2002, 44 in 2003, 49 in 2004, 50 in 2005. It is up to 60 now in 2006 given the addition of the two US guides.

[Back to History]