UK Michelin Guide – Pub Awarded Two Stars

The Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2012 awarded two stars to a pub for the first time at its launch on Thursday.
Michelin gave the sought after award to the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, in the southern English county of Buckinghamshire. The pub was opened by Tom and Beth Kerridge in 2005 and received its first Michelin star the following year.
“This is a good news story for the British pub industry and confirms our view that pubs serving good food are the ones that continue to thrive,” guide editor Rebecca Burr said in a statement. “In the 2012 guide we are delighted to have 13 pubs with Michelin stars.”
This year’s guide, published for the first time before Christmas, sees a wide geographical spread of new stars, stretching from the Driftwood Hotel in Portscatho, Cornwall to Glenapp Castle in Ballantrae, Scotland.
The following establishments received their first star:
North Road, Clerkenwell, Islington (London)
Hakkasan Mayfair, Mayfair, Westminster (London)
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park), Hyde  Park & Knightsbridge (London)
Pollen Street Social, Mayfair, Westminster (London)
Cowoth Park, Ascot, Surrey
Sir Charles Napier, Chinnor, Buckinghamshire
Butchers Arms, Eldersfield, Worcestershire
The Pass, Horsham, West Sussex
Tassilli (at Grand Hotel), Jersey, The Channel Islands
Glenapp Castle, Ballantrae, West Ayrshire
Driftwood, Portscatho, Cornwall
Black Swan, Oldstead, North Yorkshire
Martin Wishart at Loch Lomand, Balloch,
West Dunbartonshire Castle Terrace, Edinburgh
The Checkers, Montgomery, Monmouthshire
Elsewhere,  The Samling of Ambleside failed to retain the single star it won in 2010 and London’s Pied a Terre lost one of their two stars. Wales and Scotland also suffered casualties in this year’s guide as Ynyshir Hall in Powys, Plumed Horse, Edinburgh   and Champany Inn, West Lothian all lost their singles stars.
The guide also highlights restaurants that represent value for money, awarding its Bib Gourmand accolade to a further 28 restaurants, offering good cooking at moderate prices.
“Our readers have told us how much they enjoy these places so we are very pleased that our inspectors have found so many new ones, particularly in London,” Burr said.
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