The best chefs in Great Britain and Ireland gathered in Manchester to see which restaurants would be given the ultimate accolade of a Michelin Star. We bring you all the highlights.
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00:00 Well, not much can bring people together like food and the promise of a good time and that's
00:14 definitely what happened this week as the prestigious Michelin Guide ceremony was celebrated
00:19 in the north of England.
00:21 The best chefs in Great Britain and Ireland gathered in Manchester on Monday the 5th of
00:26 February to see which restaurants would be given the ultimate accolade of a Michelin
00:31 star.
00:32 The event saw the announcement of not just the renowned Michelin stars but also Green
00:37 Stars recognising restaurants leading in the industry for their commitment to sustainable
00:42 practices and a range of special awards celebrating outstanding professionals.
00:48 But what exactly is a Michelin star and why is gaining the status such an aspiration for
01:07 chefs?
01:08 What is the Michelin Guide, Ros?
01:10 What's that all about?
01:12 Well, it started in 1889 with two French brothers who have a famous tyre company and the whole
01:17 point was to get people to go out and about in their cars, to take road trips, to visit
01:22 different restaurants and places to eat in order to use up their tyres so they would
01:25 need new tyres.
01:27 And it's grown obviously exponentially since then.
01:29 We've got the UK and Ireland Guide, there's guides from all over Europe and the world.
01:32 They just recently launched it in Dubai and because it's judged by inspectors who are
01:37 part of the hospitality industry, it's a big deal for chefs.
01:42 It would be the top one that they're looking to get.
01:45 The Michelin star is what they hold up as the pinnacle.
01:48 I think it's because the inspectors come from the industry and they're being judged on their
01:51 foods and their quality of foods.
01:54 There's a certain level of how much creativity is put in it but it's genuinely the quality
01:58 and what they're doing and it's every single year they've got to keep that quality up.
02:03 So Michelin inspectors, they're drawn from the ranks of restaurants and chefs or they've
02:08 got to have that route to their background.
02:12 As far as I'm aware, they have to do about 300 different tastings across a year to be
02:17 a Michelin inspector because restaurants are visited and revisited and they're marked against
02:21 five key criteria.
02:22 It's a very precise process.
02:25 But do you think during that course of a year you'd ever get to the stage where you just
02:28 want fish and chips, you couldn't face another kind of roasted lobster?
02:32 Yeah, probably.
02:33 I mean, you probably want beans on toast.
02:35 I mean, I wouldn't be complaining but yeah, you probably do get to the stage where you
02:38 just want beans on toast.
02:39 But we'll never know because we can't ask them.
02:41 Yeah, it's a mysterious order of restaurant reviewers and we're in our midst tonight because
02:48 we're surrounded by some of the best chefs in the country who will be eagerly awaiting
02:52 to hear the news this evening.
02:54 In terms of what the Michelin footprint is in the UK, what do we, compared to last year,
03:00 what stars are available, how many restaurants are involved, do you know that?
03:05 Because I do.
03:06 Okay, well.
03:07 About 1,300 restaurants are in the guide, I think.
03:11 And then of that, about 200 are guides, sorry, 200 are stars.
03:17 And about 90 of them are from London.
03:20 So that seems quite skewed towards London but it seems like the regions are getting
03:25 more involved these days.
03:26 Do you think other UK cities will be looking for good news tonight?
03:30 I hope so.
03:31 I think Edinburgh is probably going to get another one.
03:33 I think Scotland might see it second to a Michelin star restaurant.
03:37 That's the hope anyway.
03:38 And yeah, we're here in Manchester so there's chat that maybe there's going to be an announcement
03:42 for another one here.
03:43 Yeah, it would be nice to see because I understand London's got a lot of high-end restaurants,
03:49 really good chefs, but the regions do need a little bit of love and people will come
03:54 to visit them, especially people who come for food tourism, they'll come to these restaurants.
03:58 So fingers crossed.
04:00 Bib Gourmand is another distinction that will be awarded tonight.
04:03 That's for great food at great value.
04:06 You see that as becoming increasingly a part of the food scene in cities and young chefs
04:12 aspire to that as much as they do to the Michelin star level.
04:16 I think at this day and age with the current cost-living crisis, yeah, I think it's a good
04:20 thing to strive for.
04:21 I don't know if the public know as much about it but the fact that it's for quality as well
04:27 as price is a really good thing and obviously Tepo in Edinburgh just got announced as our
04:32 new Bib Gourmand so that's nice.
04:34 How many Michelin restaurants have you visited?
04:37 What would you describe the experience as?
04:41 I don't know an exact number, not loads.
04:44 It is something else, it's lovely, it's great service, really good foods, really good drinks.
04:51 Often on occasion, on occasion dining but yeah, like you say, I think if you were to
04:57 do it all the time you would want beans on toast.
05:01 I went to a three Michelin star in New York, it was the best meal I've ever had, extraordinary
05:06 experience.
05:07 I went to one Michelin star in Scotland and the food was so good I proposed to my girlfriend
05:13 directly afterwards, changed my life.
05:15 Oh there you go.
05:17 So fine dining and set menus and stuff like that, that's kind of the foundation of a lot
05:24 of the Michelin restaurants.
05:27 That's had a tough time, disproportionately tough time over the last few years.
05:32 There's been some very high profile closures, people moving away, moving towards a more
05:37 casual dining.
05:38 Do you think that there is still a place for the highest level of fine dining, set menus
05:43 and all that glorious performance?
05:46 I think so yeah, I mean we wouldn't be sitting here if that wasn't the case.
05:49 I think these are the people that are going to thrive in terms of people coming for celebrated
05:54 meals.
05:56 There's always a place for that, it's just finding the place as things change.
06:00 But the passion from the chefs and the expertise is always going to be there and quite rightly
06:05 so.
06:06 So yeah, I think it will always continue.
06:06 There's clearly a huge amount of work that goes into running a Michelin starred restaurant
06:25 and many chefs were waiting in anticipation to find out if they had retained their star
06:29 status.
06:31 We spoke about what it takes to run a restaurant of such high quality with Scottish chef Graham
06:36 Cheevers from Unilone by Graham Cheevers in Glasgow just before the ceremony.
06:41 So Graham, how are you?
06:43 Good, nice to see you.
06:45 Are you excited?
06:46 Always an exciting day of the year, what you work all year for to come here and retain
06:51 your reputation or increase that, so yeah it's always exciting.
06:54 What does it take to run a Michelin starred restaurant?
06:57 To run a Michelin starred restaurant it takes dedication, hard work, a good palate I believe
07:02 and a good team mind you and motivate the team to do well and all have the same vision
07:06 and goal.
07:07 And at the end of the day good food.
07:10 And is that all they look for?
07:12 Is it just the food?
07:13 In my eyes Michelin is always about the food on the plate.
07:16 Service plays a big part in that because the way it's delivered is a big important part
07:20 of how the dish tastes, if it's delivered on time, how nicely it's delivered.
07:24 So the service needs to be right as well but at the end of the day they say it's about
07:27 the food on the plate.
07:30 And obviously you've got one star, is there always that sort of pushing yourself for another
07:35 or are you just sort of happy to?
07:36 Yeah you know you should never stand still, we're quite a new business, new restaurant
07:39 so right now it's about building that foundation, making sure we're consistent in what we're
07:42 doing, making sure the guests are happy at the end of the day.
07:45 For myself making sure the restaurant's busy is the key aim and obviously retaining the
07:49 star eventually growing to build on that so yeah everyone wants to be better, that's why
07:53 we do this job.
07:55 And do you find it's brought more people to you since you've got the star like tourists
07:59 and things?
08:00 Yeah I think it's the only guide in the world, it's worldwide in most countries so any star
08:06 restaurant you're going to be guaranteed a good meal so yeah it's of massive importance.
08:10 Where would you go for inspiration if you do, do you go to other Michelin star restaurants
08:14 or is there places that you would sort of go for?
08:16 Yeah I mean I get inspired by lots of different things, cooking techniques or travelling.
08:22 My main inspiration is just food that I like to cook on the plate, if you get a nice lobster
08:25 and a nice piece of fish sometimes you get the idea of something different and my inspiration
08:29 just comes from myself really and cooking what I enjoy to eat.
08:43 Basically six o'clock, all the chefs, all the egos in the UK and Irish hospitality scene
08:48 are going to be in one room, what do you think that's going to be like?
08:51 Noisy, maybe, I don't know I've never done this before.
08:57 Basically just having a good time, having a night off and having a nice time to themselves
09:00 and a wee drink afterwards, a wee celebration and we'll hopefully speak to someone.
09:04 Sounds good, let's go see what it's all about.
09:06 It promises to be an exciting and in some cases emotional evening as we celebrate our
09:11 shared passion for fantastic food, genuine hospitality as well as marking the 50th anniversary
09:18 of the Michelin Guide in Great Britain and Ireland.
09:22 The ceremony was buzzing as chefs from all over Great Britain and Ireland waited to hear
09:27 who had gained or retained a coveted star.
09:30 Renowned celebrity chef and TV presenter Michelle Rue was on hand to present the chefs with
09:35 their one star awards and in total 18 walked away with the accolade.
09:40 Six were given two stars and this year saw the rarely awarded three star status given
09:44 to the Ledbury in London, making it the ninth three Michelin star restaurant in Great Britain
09:49 and Ireland.
09:50 How are you feeling about this?
09:52 Yeah, just blown away, I had no idea.
09:56 We were all sort of coming up today wondering what might happen but we knew we'd sort of
09:59 probably been on the radar a bit but I thought probably I'd have to tell you beforehand and
10:03 we had no idea so amazing surprise and you know I want to say to Tom and Tom you're a
10:09 hell of a cook and Jack you're a gentleman inside the kitchen and out and I'm really
10:14 lucky to be working with you two guys and you're a big part of this.
10:16 We caught up with Mark Donald, head chef of the now two Michelin starred restaurant,
10:32 the Glentorrit L'Alic in Scotland, just after he was presented with the awards.
10:37 How does it feel to be a Michelin starred restaurant?
10:41 Amazing, I'm a sweaty mess honestly, yeah really fantastic, it's great for a great personal
10:49 achievement, professional achievement, it's great for the team, it's great for Scotland
10:53 and it's great for whisky as well, it's just great all round.
10:59 As you can see this year's Michelin guide ceremony has been a huge success, we've had
11:28 a great year.
11:43 Cheers.
11:51 Cheers.
11:52 Cheers.
11:53 Cheers.
11:54 Cheers.
11:55 Cheers.
11:55 Cheers.