By Katie Wilson
The Michelin Star winners for 2023 have been announced – and here’s where you should be booking a table in the next 12 months.
There were no Three Michelin Star winners in this year’s awards, but three restaurants in the UK and Ireland achieved Two Michelin Star status.
Alex Dilling achieved the rare feat of being awarded not one, but two Michelin stars simultaneously for his first standalone restaurant at Hotel Café Royal.
One of London’s finest restaurants, The Ledbury, won their two stars back after closing for two years during lockdown. Another 20 One Michelin Stars were awarded.
Did any restaurants near you make this year’s list? Here are all the new Michelin Star winners for 2023 in full.
Read next: New UK restaurants to have on your radar
New two Michelin star restaurants in the UK and Ireland
Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, London
Acclaimed chef Alex Dilling was awarded Two Michelin Stars at The Greenhouse restaurant in London’s Mayfair before it closed during lockdown. Not only has he won them back, he’s achieved the rare feat of being awarded two Michelin stars at the same time for his first standalone restaurant at Hotel Café Royal, which opened its doors in September 2022.
The Ledbury, London
The Ledbury in Notting Hill was one of London’s best restaurants before it closed at the height of the pandemic in June 2020. After a two-year hiatus it reopened in 2022 with chef-owner Brett Graham offering a tasting rather than brasserie menu. It previously had Two Michelin Stars and has won them back in 2023.
Dede, Baltimore, Ireland
Turkish chef Ahmet Dede was awarded One Michelin Star for his eponymous restaurant, Dede at The Customs House, in Baltimore, Co Cork back in 2021 after opening in lockdown. Two years on and it has been promoted to Two Michelin Stars.
New one Michelin star restaurants in the UK
Ben Wilkinson at The Pass, Sussex
The Boutique Handbook predicted chef Ben Wilkinson would win a Michelin Star when we visited Ben Wilkinson at The Pass, at the South Lodge Hotel in Sussex, in January. A well-deserved win, a meal here will convert even those that aren’t usually into tasting menus.
Read our full review of Ben Wilkinson at The Pass here
Àclèaf, Plymouth
Àclèaf from head chef Scott Paton already had four AA Rosettes, but now it can add Michelin Star to its bow. The Boutique Handbook visited in February and were seriously impressed. Find it at Boringdon Hall hotel and spa in Cornwall.
Read our full review of Àclèaf here
Grace & Savour, Solihull
Built into the walls of a Victorian walled garden, Grace & Savour at Hampton Manor in the Midlands serves up a 15-course experiential tasting menu from chef David Taylor. Open for just over a year, it’s now been awarded One Michelin Star. Stay over in one of their Garden Suites for the full experience.
Heft, Newton in Cartmel
Heft is one of 10 Cumbrian restaurants to be awarded a Michelin Star, making it one of the biggest foodie areas outside London. From husband and wife team Kevin and Nicola Tickle, this Lake District Inn opened its doors in 2021. Standout dishes include Mutton Ham and Sea Truffle Crumpet and Mussel Kebab. Rooms will open in the future.
The Samling, Ambleside
Another Lake District Michelin Star, this time for The Samling, a luxury country house hotel with views across Lake Windermere. Michelin says the set menu offers more than a nod to the location, and be sure to order dessert. If you’re staying over, it’s well worth booking a dip in their private hot tub.
Gidleigh Park, Devon
The award-winning Gidleigh Park hotel on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon specialises in modern British cuisine with top quality seasonal produce at its heart. Chef Chris Eden, the first Cornish chef to get a Michelin Star in his home county at Driftwood restaurant, is the man in charge. Tip: It’s a lot easier to get a table if you stay overnight.
Pentonbridge Inn, Penton
Michelin say chef Chris Archer doesn’t need to fall back on gimmicks or unnecessary flourishes. He keeps it simple and can deliver with just a handful of ingredients. Book a table at Pentonbridge Inn on your way up to Scotland, as it is on the Scottish border. Or make a weekend of it and stay in one of the smart bedrooms at this 18th Century inn now it’s officially a Michelin Star restaurant with rooms.
Heron, Leith
Looking for a new Michelin Star restaurant in Edinburgh? Heron offers relaxed farm-to-table fine dining overlooking the picturesque Water of Leith. The menu showcases some of Scotland’s best seasonal produce, including game and heritage breed meat. Michelin says the sauces here are a real highlight. Not only that, but chefs Sam Yorke and Tomás Gormley are the youngest chefs in Scotland to receive a Michelin Star aged just 25 and 28 respectively.
Restaurant Twenty-Two, Cambridge
Restaurant Twenty-Two, the debut restaurant from husband and wife team Sam Carter and Alex Olivier, has been making waves on Cambridge’s dining scene for years – and has finally got a Michelin Star. Food is beautifully presented, but you’ll leave feeling full. The dining room, housed in a Victorian townhouse which backs on to the River Cam, is equally stunning.
The Tudor Pass, Egham
Blind menu aficionados will be in their element at The Tudor Pass, the restaurant inside Great Fosters hotel near Windsor. This intimate restaurant only has seven tables and is open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. The beautifully designed space – without the noise of an open kitchen, despite what the name suggests – is led by Executive Chef Alex Payne, who has won a Michelin Star within the first six months of opening. This one is worth staying overnight. Check out their overnight offers, as some include dinner.
Timberyard, Edinburgh
This family-run restaurant in the heart of Edinburgh is set in a 19th Century warehouse that was once a props and costume store. Run by chef Ben Radford and his wife Lisa, Timberyard showcases the best of Scotland’s larder serving lunch and dinner, as well as a tasting menu. Michelin says serving staff are on the ball and the music is pretty great here too.
SOLSTICE BY KENNY ATKINSON, Newcastle Upon Tyne
This intimate restaurant, round the corner from chef Kenny Atkinson’s flagship Michelin Star dining room House of Tides on Newcastle’s quayside, only opened in summer 2022 but has already won its own Michelin Star. Offering a multi-course tasting menu of intricate, modern dishes, the chefs serve the dishes themselves offering detailed explanations of how they are made. To get the ultimate SOLSTICE dining experience, go for the wine pairing.
sō–lō, Lancashire
sō–lō is the first solo restaurant from Huddersfield-born chef Tim Allen. After a move down south, he was awarded Essex’s first Michelin Star when he became a partner in The Flitch of Bacon restaurant. But Tim’s dream was always to open a solo venture, which he did when he converted a pub in the Lancashire village of Aughton in late 2021. Now he has his very own Michelin Star venue that is all his own. A three-course lunch costs a reasonable £42.50.
Lumière, Cheltenham
Chef Jon Howe and his wife Helen opened their own restaurant, Lumière in Cheltenham, back in 2009. Named one of the top fining restaurants in Britain, this intimate dining space has just eight tables and serves an elevated tasting menu of four, six or eight courses. All the food is made in house and much of the fresh produce including vegetables, herbs and edible flowers come from own 15-acre smallholding.
Terre Restaurant, Castlemartyr, Ireland
Terre Restaurant is the only restaurant in Ireland to be awarded a new one Michelin Star in 2023. Run by Chef Patron Vincent Crepel, this beautiful space can be found in The Manor House at the Castlemartyr Resort hotel in Cork. Eating here is an unhurried affair with guests treated to a contemporary French tasting menu with Asian influences over three and a half hours. In a nice touch, Tea Pairing for those who don’t drink is available, as well as wine.
STORE, Norfolk
STORE in Norfolk is a restaurant within a restaurant, as local chef Liam Nichols has teamed up with the owners of Stoke Mill restaurant to create a more intimate fine dining space. The multi-course tasting menu is served to just five tables a night, keeping an air of exclusiveness. Fun Fact: Stoke Mill is where the mustard seed used to be stored before being made into Colman’s Mustard.
New one Michelin star restaurants in London
Restaurant St. Barts, Farringdon
Restaurant St. Barts made its debut in October 2022 and has won its first Michelin Star within the first few months of being open. From the team behind neighbourhood restaurants NEST in Hackney and FENN in Fulham, this is friends’ Johnnie, Luke and Toby’s third restaurant in the capital. Overlooking the magical cloisters of St Bartholomew The Great Church, expect a 15-course menu (£120pp), billed as a British Tasting Menu experience. Book this for an extra special treat.
Luca, Clerkenwell
Luca is from the same team behind two-Michelin star The Clove Club in Shoreditch, so it’s no surprise they’ve now been awarded a Michelin Star for their second restaurant. Opened in 2017, this Clerkenwell restaurant is beautiful inside and out. Just look at that terrace (pictured). The food here is ‘Britalian’, observing the traditions of Italian cooking, but breaking the rules a little. Short of time? Pop in for a drink at Luca Bar and order a bowl of their famous Parmesan Fries.
Cycene, Shoreditch
Cycene means ‘kitchen’ in Old English and aims to recreate the feeling of dinner in a private home through chef Theo Clench’s 10-course tasting menu. Set in an intimate space in Shoreditch, food here is influenced by Theo’s travels in Eastern Asia and Australasia and his passion for seafood and game. A meal here begins on the ground floor bar with a first course of homemade bread, seasonal broth and apéritifs, such as minimal intervention wines and kombuchas. Guests then continue their meal in the 15-cover dining room upstairs.
Taku, Mayfair
Omakase restaurant Taku opened in Mayfair in late 2022, but has already gained its first Michelin Star. Chef Takuya Watanabe – behind Jin, the first Omakase restaurant in Paris to receive a Michelin star – has done it again in London within a matter of months. Omakase is effectively a blind tasting menu, as the chef has all control. Less adventurous diners can choose from a 17-course Lunch Menu, 20-course Signature Menu or the Prestige Menu, featuring ultra-premium ingredients such as caviar and truffle.
New Green Michelin Star restaurants in the UK
Apricity, Mayfair
Apricity is the new restaurant from chef-owner Chantelle Nicholson, who used to run Tredwells, which closed in 2021 after seven years. Under a year later, she returned with a new space moments from the bustle of Oxford Street, and it’s definitely worth visiting. Aside from its new Green Michelin Star – highlighting restaurants doing great things for sustainability – the food here is great. Working with small-scale farmers, the menu is hyper-seasonal and the decor is largely recycled. The chairs, for example, are made from Coca-Cola bottles.
Osip, Bruton
Osip in the charming town of Bruton is the second restaurant in Somerset to gain a Michelin star, after Olive Tree in Bath. Owned by forward-thinking chef Merlin Labron-Johnson, there is a farm-to-table ethos and the set menu is surprisingly plant-based. Its green credentials come from almost all of the produce being homegrown or locally sourced. Wine pairings are organic and biodynamic. Book a room at the adjoining Number One Bruton for a perfect foodie weekend.
Crocadon, St Mellion, Cornwall
Michelin say chef-owner Dan Cox realised that to cook the best, he needed to grow the best, so he spent five years establishing his 120-acre farm with a restaurant at its heart, earning him a Green Michelin Star in 2023. The epitome of ‘field to fork’ dining, Crocadon is run on regenerative principles delivering much of the produce, with the rest sourced from similarly minded local suppliers. Tip: Visit for Sunday lunch and enjoy a slightly cheaper feasting menu, priced at £45.
CULTURE, Falmouth
CULTURE in the Cornish coastal town of Falmouth opened in mid 2022 and quickly became one of the best restaurants in the area. The realisation of a lifelong dream from South African chef Hylton Espey and his wife Petronella, this pared-back quayside restaurant earned its Green Michelin Star for its nature-inspired cuisine with a focus on the landscapes, flora and fauna. Michelin says its also worth checking out the glass-walled wine cellar.
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