Michelin Guide UK adds 22 restaurants ahead of February stars
October's monthly update puts 13 names in London and eight more from Kent to Scotland on the list that decides who can be considered for a star.
The Michelin Guide UK added 22 restaurants to its selection in October, and eight of them sit outside London.
The update is inspectors' routine housekeeping, not an awards ceremony. A restaurant has to appear in the guide before it can be weighed for a star, so October's list is really a shortlist for the next one, due in February.
Where the Michelin Guide UK added names
A restaurant has to appear in the guide before it can be weighed for a star.
London accounts for 13 of the 22: Impala, IGNI, Idalia, Levan, Ornella, Panta Rei, Rosina, Tavern, Tiella Trattoria & Bar, Trèsind, Whiteley's Kitchen and Teal, where chef Sally Abé is in charge, plus Orrery under Pierre Minotti.
Kent supplied the most-discussed newcomer. Eden, at the Hever Castle Estate, is run by George Blogg, who spent ten years as executive head chef at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex, holding a star there throughout. Inspectors singled out a scallop ceviche with elderflower, green strawberry and dashi.
West Sussex added a second name: Restaurant Isca, inside the Borde Hill Estate near Haywards Heath, built around seasonal dishes made with produce grown on the same land it serves.
Scotland's only entry was the Garden Room at Cromlix Hotel in Kinbuck, praised for its value set lunch, and Oxfordshire's was the Duke of Cumberland's Head, a 250-year-old thatched pub in Clifton running a short modern menu.
Sussex supplied two more names, Orla Restaurant & Rooms in Lindfield and Winifred's in Hastings, while Teffont House in Wiltshire and the Third Monkey in Farnham, Surrey, round out the list.
Listing comes before any stars
None of the 22 holds a star yet, and being on this list is no guarantee one is coming. It is simply the only way in: Michelin updates its guide every month, and only restaurants already listed go forward to the annual ceremony.
Starred kitchens keep building on that status while the newcomers wait: Akoko has spent the autumn hosting trainee chefs on stage. Elsewhere in London, B Penhale opened opposite Smithfield Market this month, part of the same wave of openings now waiting on next year's verdict.
