Michelin today released its 2008 guide for Great Britain and Ireland - and has not promoted any restaurants to the coveted two or three-Michelin-starred status. 

The move not only sees 2008 as the fourth consecutive year without the top accolade of three-stars being awarded, but also marks, what is being described by the industry, as a disappointing crop of awards.

However, the guide awarded 15 restaurants their first Michelin star, keeping the total of establishments holding stars in Great Britain and Ireland to122, the same number as last year. 

Among the newly starred restaurants are high-profile operations including restaurateurs Anthony Demetre and Will Smith’s second venture Wild Honey and Gary Rhodes’ latest venture Rhodes W1in London, Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall, which was also listed as a rising two-star establishment. 

While the guide’s three three-starred restaurants have each retained their status this year, the two-Michelin-starred Hibiscus in London has lost one of its stars following its relocation from Ludlow, Shropshire, to the capital last autumn. 

Michelin’s surprise move to demote the restaurant now sees it listed in the rising two-star category.

Five establishments were tipped as one-star restaurants of the future and three as rising two-stars. No restaurants were named as rising three-star establishments. 

There were 15 restaurants that lost a Michelin star and 33 new Bib Gourmand establishments in the guide. 

New one star restaurants: 

Scotland

• Ballachulish House, Ballachulish, Highland
• Champany Inn, Linlithglow, West Lothian

England

• The Goose, Britwell Salome, Oxon
• West Stoke House, Chichester/West Stoke, West Sussex
• Apicius, Cranbrook, Kent
• Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall
• Tean, Scilly Isle/St Martin’s, Cornwall
• The Sportsman, Whitstable/Seasalter, Kent

London

• La Trompette, Chiswick
• Rhodes W1 (Restaurant), Marylebone
• Quilon, Victoria
• Hibiscus, Mayfair
• Wild Honey, Mayfair

Republic of Ireland

• Mint, Ranelagh,  Dublin
• Bon Appétit, Malahide, Dublin

Rising One Stars

England

• The Wheatsheaf, Bath/Combe Hay, Bath & North East Somerset
• Combe House, Honiton/Gittisham, Devon
• The Nut Tree, Murcott, Oxon
• Auberge du Lac, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

London

• Galvin at Windows, Mayfair

Rising Two Stars

• Hibiscus, Mayfair, London
• Tom Aikens, Chelsea, London
• Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall

Deletions

England

• Jessica’s Birmingham, West Midlands
• The Devonshire Arms Country House, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire
• The Hare, Hungerford, Berkshire
• Ripley’s, Padstow, Cornwall
• The Greyhound, Stockbridge, Hampshire
• Waldo’s (at Cliveden), Taplow, Berkshire
• The Castle, Taunton, Somerset
• The Trouble House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
• The George, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
• Gilpin Lodge, Windermere, Cumbria
• Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Humberside
• Hibiscus, Ludlow, Shropshire

London

• Angela Hartnett at Connaught, Mayfair
• Orrery, Marylebone
• The Savoy Grill, Strand

For more news on Michelin-starred restaurants click here >> 

Top chefs give their predictions for 2008 >>

Ludlow to London: Claude Bosi to relocate Hibiscus >>

Menuwatch on Caterersearch

Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall >> 

Wild Honey, London >> 

Rhodes W1 Restaurant >> 

The Tean, St Martins, Isle of Scilly >>

By Kerstin Kühn

E-mail your comments to Kerstin Kühn here.