Features 1 minute 01 April 2021

Icons and Trailblazers (Part 2)

The UK & Ireland’s most influential restaurants through the decades

We continue our celebration of ground-breaking restaurants that influenced others and made the restaurant industry in the UK & Ireland what it is today.

Chez Bruce
Chez Bruce

1990s
Merchant House – Shaun Hill puts Ludlow on the culinary map
21 Queen Street – brasserie dining comes to the North East
Quaglino’s – founded in 1929, reborn in 1993. We all stole the ashtrays
St. John – Fergus Henderson’s nose-to-tail cooking arrived
Northcote Manor – a Northern powerhouse
Chez Nico at Ninety Park Lane – Three Michelin Stars in ’95 for self-taught Nico Ladenis
Nobu – London’s outpost was an instant hit
Juniper – Paul Kitching, the king of Altrincham
Fat Duck – Heston Blumenthal announces his arrival
Lettonie – still miss Martin Blunos’ ‘boiled egg & soldiers’
Atlantic Bar & Grill – Oliver Peyton’s big, bold bar & restaurant
The Ivy – opened in 1917 but came into its own when Corbin & King relaunched it in 1990
Aubergine – Gordon Ramsay opens his first restaurant
Paul Heathcote’s – Two star cooking comes to Lancashire
Peacock Alley – a Michelin Star for Conrad Gallagher in Dublin
Deanes on the Square – transformed dining in Northern Ireland
Chez Bruce – took neighbourhood restaurants up a gear

Hakkasan Hanway Place
Hakkasan Hanway Place

2000s
Stagg Inn – first pub to be awarded a Michelin Star
Hakkasan – Alan Yau’s cool subterranean Chinese restaurant opens
Mirabelle – a Michelin Star in 2000 when Marco reinvented this famous name
The Wolseley – Grand café society comes to the capital
The Sportsman – the pride of Kent
Harwood Arms – an old boozer transformed into London’s first Michelin Star pub
Nahm – the first Thai restaurant in Europe to be awarded a Michelin Star
L’Enclume – still leads the way in sustainability and quality produce
Maze – small plates done better than anyone. Jason Atherton makes his name
Polpo – fun, quick and easy
Locanda Locatelli – was impossible to get a table
Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles – a Scot does his country proud
Barrafina – raised the tapas bar
Benares – the first Indian restaurant to receive a Michelin Star
Sketch – food, design and art all came together

Clove Club
Clove Club

2010s
Arbutus – The torchbearer for ‘bistronomy’ in London
Hand & Flowers – the first pub to win Two Michelin Stars
Viajante – Nuno Mendes puts Bethnal Green on the map
Ynyshir – the definitive Welsh destination restaurant
Heron and Grey – a Star in the suburbs of Dublin
Chiltern Firehouse – proves the celebrity hangout is never dead
Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs – counter dining like no other
Clove Club – Shoreditch comes of age

For Part 1 - Our list from the 1950s -1980s – click here

This year, the Michelin Guide is published in a digital format only, both on our website (UK and Republic of Ireland) and via the iOS app.

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