Michelin Star Chefs
Michelin Star Chefs
There are just 229 Michelin-starred restaurants and 37 michelin green star chefs in the UK currently. this can change every year when the new Michelin Guide UK is revealed.
What are the names of the UK Michelin star chefs?
Michelin star chefs in the UK include Alain Roux, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay, Simon Rogan, Alain Ducasse, Sat Bains, Tom Kerridge, Michael Wignall, Raymond Blanc, John Williams, Adejoké Bakare and Tommy Banks.
How many Michelin star chefs are there in Scotland?
There are 15 Michelin star chefs in Scotland which feature in the Michelin Guide UK 2026. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie and Mark Donald's The Glenturret Lalique hold two stars and the one Michelin star chefs in Scotland include Lorna McNee, Martin Wishart and Graeme Cheevers.
How many Michelin star chefs are there in Wales?
There are seven Michelin star chefs in Wales which feature in the Michelin Guide UK 2026. Gareth Ward's Ynyshir holds two stars and the one Michelin star chef in Wales are Hywel Griffith, Tom Waters, James Sommerin, Shaun Hill, Chris Harrod and Stephen Stevens.
How many Michelin star chefs are there in Ireland?
There are 22 Michelin star chefs in Ireland which feature in the Michelin Guide UK 2026. Terre, Dede, Chapter One, Liath and Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud hold two stars and the one Michelin star chefs in Ireland include Paul McDonald, Andy McFadden, Mike Tweedie, Robbie McCauley, Danny Africano and John Wyer.
How many Michelin star chefs are there in London?
There are 88 Michelin star chefs in London which feature in the Michelin Guide UK 2026.
These include Clare Smyth's Core by Clare Smyth, Hélène Darroze’s Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Pierre Gaignaire’s Sketch Lecture Room & Library, Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Alain Ducasse’s Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Brett Graham at The Ledbury, Jeremy Chan's Ikoyi, Isaac McHale's The Clove Club, Andrew Wong's A. Wong, Tom Sellar's Restaurant Story, James Knappett and Sandia Chang’s Kitchen Table, Bonheur by Matt Abé, Heston Blumenthal's Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Jonny Lake and Isa Bal’s Trivet, Evelyn's Table, Jason Atherton and Spencer Metzger's Row on 5, Adam Handling's Frog by Adam Handling Restaurant Covent Garden, Tom Aikens’ Muse, Behind Restaurant, Sameer Taneja’s Benares, Victor Garvey’s Sola, Endo Kazutoshi’s Endo at the Rotunda, Tomos Parry’s Brat, Nieves Barragan-Mohacho and José Etura’s Sabor, Josh Angus's Hide, Phil Howard’s Elystan Street, Pied à Terre, The Harwood Arms, Adejoké Bakare at Chishuru, The River Café, La Trompette, Fergus Henderson’s St. John, Gary Foulkes' Cornus, Mark Kempson’s Kitchen W8, Adam Byatt’s Trinity, Nigel Platts and Bruce Poole’s Chez Bruce, Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus, Gymkhana, Angela Hartnett’s Murano, Humble Chicken by Angelo Sato and Michael Caines at The Stafford.
How are Michelin stars rewarded to restaurants?
The term "Michelin Star" is a hallmark of fine dining quality and restaurants around the world proudly promote their Michelin Star status. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay cried when the Michelin Guide stripped the stars from his New York restaurant, calling the food "erratic". He explained that losing the stars was like "losing a girlfriend”.
Michelin awards 0 to 3 stars on the basis of the anonymous reviews and Michelin focuses entirely on the food. The reviewers award the stars as follows:
One star: A good place to stop on your journey, indicating a very good restaurant in its category, offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard.
Two stars: A restaurant worth a detour, indicating excellent cuisine and skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality.
Three stars: A restaurant worth a special journey, indicating exceptional cuisine where diners eat extremely well, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients.
How do you become a Michelin star chef?
Although the Michelin star is awarded to a restaurant the credit for it goes to the chef in charge of the kitchen.
• Of course the first step is to become a chef. You can either take a course at a reputed culinary school, learn the basics, join the industry and work your way up the ladder; become a Commis 3, Commis 2, Commis 1, working at the different kitchen stations, then moving on to first junior then senior chef de partie. Next step up the ladder is the position of the sous chef and finally you will reach the position of the chef. An amateur has to start their career even lower in the brigade as an assistant in the kitchen, washing dishes and working their way up till they can head the kitchen.
• Once you become a chef it is your passion and creativity that will speak for you. How you blend flavours, how you present each dish, how clean your kitchen are all important factors that matter to the Michelin inspector.
• The most important factor that every Michelin inspectors places immense value on is consistency. The inspectors are anonymous and visit the restaurants a number of times before reaching their decision. Each and every time they have to have a flawless experience.
• The freshness and quality of the ingredients is of prime importance to the Michelin inspectors. That along with the cooking, the presentation of the dish and the harmony of the flavours in the dish decides the worthiness of an establishment.
Why do chefs give back their Michelin stars?
In 2017 French chef Sébastien Bras, son of Michel Bras, revealed that he wants to “give back” the three Michelin stars he and his father have maintained for nearly two decades at their pioneering restaurant Le Suquet à Laguiole. He wants out of the red guide book and to be done with one of the highest honors a restaurant can achieve.
The chef said: “You’re inspected two or three times a year, you never know when. Every meal that goes out could be inspected. That means that, every day, one of the 500 meals that leaves the kitchen could be judged.”
He was followed by Chef Christian Puglisi, in an Instagram post the Michelin starred chef has labelled rankings and awards as being ‘ridiculous’.
“I have grown so tired of this constant need to sizing, ranking and listing every single thing in this industry," said the chef in the post.
• Why is a Michelin starred chef ‘tired’ of the industry's endless rankings and lists?
Christian is part of the former Noma alumni and currently runs a string of restaurants in Copenhagen which includes the Michelin starred Relae, wine bar Manfreds, pizzeria Baest, and cafe Mirabelle. As well as its star in the Michelin Guide, Relae is also ranked at No. 39 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
In his Instagram rant the chef, who was voted the 69th best chef in the world by an unnamed company, said he hoped ‘you really don’t give a flying f***!’ it.
