The Michelin Guide 2013 is out today (Friday 5 Oct), but the much anticipated announcement of who is in and who is out has been a bit of an anti-climax, not least because Michelin shot themselves in the foot by accidentally publishing the results on their website a week early, either that, or it’s a neat publicity stunt. Not so, says the UK editor Rebecca Burr, she’s blaming a technical hitch during testing by the team in France. The list of new stars was hastily taken down when they realised their mistake, but it was too late for eagle-eyed chefs, who were already chirruping on Twitter, so seven hours later, after Michelin claimed they had checked the results, they were put back up and the news chefs had waited all year for, dribbled out.
There were 18 new stars awarded this year but none in Yorkshire. All those who already had a star retained them, that’s the Yorke Arms, the Pipe and Glass, The Burlington Restaurant at the Devonshire Arms, the Box Tree, the Black Swan at Oldstead, and the Old Vicarage, Sheffield.
So nothing to get too excited about there. Closest to our boundary is the Raby Hunt, a nice looking restaurant with rooms, near Darlington, who were awarded a star and Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume at Cartmel was given a second star.
Sad, but unsurprising is the news that Sharrow Bay on Ullswater has lost its star after 15 consecutive years. When I ate there last, the change of ownership and then receivership did nothing for the standards in the dining room. It was an expensive disappointment. But it was good news for Create in Leeds and Le Langhe in York who get a Bib Gourmand (Michelin’s classification for good food at a reasonable price). The General Tarleton, near Knaresborough, Artisan in Sheffield and the Rose & Crown at Sutton on Forest all lost their ‘Bibs’. There was nothing for our favourite Fox & Hounds at Goldsborough or Artisan at Hessle, two Yorkshire hopefuls. Chefs Jason Davies and Richard Johns will be disappointed, but we’ll continue to love them anyway.