Michelin 2007

The UK & Ireland Michelin Guide 2007 is now out and you can read the press release in full here.

My predictions were mixed.  Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road did not lose a star.  Arbutus got one though, as did L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon.  Bizarrely, Galvin at Windows only got an espoir (one to watch for next year).  Pétrus got bumped up to two, which is well deserved, as did The Vineyard at Stockcross.  Interestingly, Foliage at the Mandarin Oriental got a two-star espoir, in other words, it might well get bumped up to two next year.  La Noisette in Chelsea got its first star, I haven't been but have heard positive things.  If my maths are correct, the boosts for La Noisette and  Pétrus mean that the Ramsay empire now has ten Michelin stars.

I imagine there might be a perception that Anthony's has lost out again - clearly they are unloved by the inspectors and Le Champignon Sauvage did not gain its third.  Another loser, which I find very odd, is Galvin Bistro Deluxe, it lost its bib gourmand.  For some reason the inspectors no longer feel it serves good food at reasonable prices.

A quick note for those of you planning on buying this years guide: for the first time Michelin have published a separate London guide, in addition to the full UK and Ireland guide.  The London guide has more detailed listings, with photos for the starred establishments.

Comments

[Trig]

Ok - pretty good. My dad texted me the key news items earlier today while I was on service. Last night he suggested that Gordon would not tolerate losing a star at RHR and ending up on a par with Marcus, so whether the results were due to him exercising his power or simply the rumours were incorrect we'll never discover. I'm intrigued to know where you hear all this stuff, though. Was it speculation on the web or do you have inside info?

[Silverbrow]

Sometimes you just get lucky. I don't reckon that Ramsay has the sway to impact Michelin inspectors. If anything they hold the commercial power: demoting him would mean more sales for them and far less for him. He's got very little he could hold over them. Rumours are often wrong - this was clearly a case in point.

[matthew jurko]

hi not too sure if this will work( this e mail) but am keen as hell to work for gordon ramsey. am an aussie chef with various experience in the chefing world. any advise on how to apply for a position in his brigade anywhere? just got to london and am sous at moment in cicada restaurant. any wy thanks for your time. matt

[Silverbrow]

Matthew

Thanks for your comment although I think you meant it as an email, so also replied to you be email. Either way, I can't help specifically with Ramsay, but I do know that he takes stagiers (as do most decent restaurants). I would have thought the best way is to write to him and apply. You might as well aim high, so write to Royal Hospital Road. You can find their address on the website.

One thing though, you might want to give some thought as to whether you want to work for Ramsay specifically, especially as he is currently spending so much time in New York, opening his new place. Why not try his proteges, such as Marcus Wareing at Petrus or Angela Hartnett at The Connaught. It goes without saying there are other places in London and elsewhere, not part of Gordon Ramsay Holdings that would be excellent places to learn: Fat Duck/Le Champignon Sauvage etc etc.

Hope this helps