Tiny sushi bar Araki takes 3 Michelin stars
Win brings number of guide’s top tier restaurants to five in UK and Ireland
Mitsuhiro Araki, who moved to London three years ago to open a nine-seat recreation of a Tokyo sushi counter, has won three Michelin stars.
The Araki, in New Burlington Street, Mayfair, offers a £300 set menu from a 200-year-old slab of cypress and is now one of five restaurants in the UK and Ireland with three stars. The “sushi is now simply sublime,” said Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin guides.
One tier down, Claude Bosi at Bibendum, which resides — poetically — inside the Michelin House, London, was the only restaurant this year to gain two stars. In this year’s edition, there are just 20 restaurants in possession of two stars.
Mr Bosi’s gratin of tripe was last month praised by Tim Hayward in the Financial Times: “Will this . . . please Michelin, the arbiters by whom Bosi measures himself? That remains to be seen, but if they can’t understand that this one dish, full of story, love, skill and passion, represents everything that good cooking is about, you have to wonder if their opinion is really worth anything at all.”
Phil Howard and Michael Caines, both Michelin-starred in previous years, won a star for their new restaurants, Elystan Street and Lympstone Manor respectively.
In total, Michelin has awarded one star to 150 restaurants this year, 17 of which are new. In a reflection of the industry, all of the new winners have a male head chef.
The Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna becomes Ireland’s first Michelin-starred pub. On the Isle of Sky in Scotland, Michael Smith gains a star for Loch Bay, a converted crofter’s house.
Kinloch Lodge, also on Skye, lost its star. It was one of 13 restaurants to lose their rating, including Dabbous in London, which closed.
In Bristol, Paco Tapas was awarded one star. On receiving it, head chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias said: “I’m shaking, it’s mental.” His tapas bar is named after his father, who wept openly on stage.
The Coach, chef Tom Kerridge’s Marlow pub — an informal establishment where guests can eat well and watch the football — also gained a star.
In London, two Indian restaurants have been recognised with stars, Jamavar in Mayfair and Vineet Bhatia in Chelsea. A. Wong also received a star for his contemporary Cantonese cuisine.