The culinary awards season is well underway, and February saw the announcement of several big lists in the UK gastronomic sphere – including the Top 50 Gastropubs list, and the Michelin Guide's list of UK stars.
The Michelin list drew as much excitement as ever, in particular as it continues to move in new directions – honouring not just the 'best of the best' classic fine dining establishments (though there were plenty of these!), but also game-changing new restaurants that look at haute cuisine through a new, modern lens.
Some of the most exciting action took place in the announcement of the new one stars, as these continue to upend the notion of what constitutes a typical Michelin-starred meal. Indeed this year's list heralded the first vegan restaurant to be awarded a star in London (Plates by Kirk Haworth). And it also delved into global exploration, with notable stars being given to AngloThai (Bangkok-meets-British), Oma (modern Greek) and Lita (Mediterranean).
In this modern, creative, global vein – other notable new additions to the list included Humble Chicken (two stars) – as well as London's Miga, Donia, Mambow, Kolae and Artusi, who all received Bib Gourmands and between them represent Korean, Filipino, Malaysian, regional Thai and Italian cuisine.
Not to be outdone, there was also much fanfare around to Top 50 Gastropubs list. Suffolk favourite The Unruly Pig claimed the top spot for the second year in the row, while The Devonshire (London) continued its buzzworthy streak by coming straight in at No. 2 in its inaugural year on the list. Indeed, it was a big year for London's pubs – as they made up 12 of the Top 50 (up from 8 the previous year). And notably included in the list was the Tamil Prince (no 45), which is one of a new wave of 'Desi pubs' creating a buzz in the capital for their interpretation of British-meets-Indian gastropub fare.
Image credits - Tamil Prince / Humble Chicken / The Unruly Pig