Matthew Norman of The Guardian is keen to find out why Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester recently achieved Michelin's top accolade of three stars. But having enjoyed a meal that was good and sporadically brilliant, he suspects it may be something to do with the name.

"Then again, perfection is a subjective concept, and I wouldn't wish to discourage any of you who have at least £110 a head to spare," he says.

Meanwhile The Times' Giles Coren declares the Galvin brother's latest restaurant Galvin La Chapelle in east London one of the capital's grandest restaurants.

"They have opened in a bleak financial time and are doing what looks like raging business regardless, because brilliant, original, top-end restaurants that look immediately as if they have always been there are what the Galvin brothers do best," Coren enthuses.

The Observer's Jay Rayner says that if the menu at Cabbage Hall in Little Budworth, Cheshire, wasn't so pretentious, he might have enjoyed his meal there a lot more.

Lisa Markwell, writing in The Independent on Sunday, describes The Artichoke in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, as a great neighbourhood restaurant which diners should visit before it becomes difficult to get a table. Having recently reopened following a fire, she says the redesign by Claire Nelson is exactly right, while chef Laurie Gear's food is accomplished.

AA Gill readily admits in The Sunday Times that he has ignored rural restaurants in the past because most of them wouldn't last a week in Putney. After eating a Milan in Wooler, Northumberland, he says that while this is true of the restaurant, the experience also showed him that he needs to eat his words. "Most Putney restaurants wouldn't last a week in Wooler," he says.

The Royal Oak, a tenanted pub run by David Rhys-Jones, the brother-in-law of Prince Edward, in Romney Marsh, Kent, receives a vote of confidence from the Daily Telegraph's food critic, Jasper Gerard.

ITV has been fined £1,660 for animal cruelty after celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo killed and ate a rat on reality TV series I'm a Celebrity Get Me Of Here.

The Italian chef, who was crowned King of the Jungle last December, came under fire from the RSPCA in New South Wales, Australia, after he and fellow contestant actor Stuart Manning caught, killed and cooked the rodent.

The killing happened while the pair was sent into exile and put on meagre rations of rice and beans, which prompted them to eat the rat to get "more protein".

A court in Sydney heard that the rat was initially stabbed with a knife but took a minute and a half to die suffering unnecessary pain in the process.

While D'Acampo and Manning were originally charged with animal cruelty themselves, the charges were dropped after ITV admitted that production staff allowed them to kill the rat.  Apparently their only concern was whether eating the rodent would make them sick, rather than whether they were breaking any laws.

ITV was fined $3,000 (£1,660) and ordered to pay $2,500 (£1,390) in costs.

Restaurants are always thinking of romantic ways to lure loved up couples on Valentine's Day but one operator has taken things a tad too far.

A Canadian restaurant plans to celebrate Valentine's Day weekend by calling on diners to have sex in the toilets. From 12-15 February, Mildred's Temple Kitchen in Toronto is asking its customers to get up close and personal in its unisex loos.

"Have you given any thought to moving beyond the bedroom?" asks its website. "Check out Mildred's Sexy Bathrooms throughout the weekend of Big Love. You get the picture."

It's up to the couples to decide whether they'd like to get down to business before during or after their meal and a special Valentine's Day cleaner has been hired by the restaurant. (Isn't that a dream job?!?)

"We've always had little trysts in our bathrooms. We're taking it to the next level on Valentine's weekend," chef and co-owner Donna Dooher told the Toronto Star, adding she was encouraging customers to bring their own condoms.

And as far as any legal or hygiene concerns go, Toronto Public Health insisted that as long as there's no sex in the kitchen and the loos are being kept clean and sanitised, there was no problem.

And whoever called Canadians boring?!?

Daniel Clifford was amongst a trio of Michelin-starred-chefs who came under the microscope of the restaurant critics this weekend.

Matthew Norman of The Guardian was surprised to find that his much lauded restaurant Midsummer House in Cambridge is being run for the benefit of its customers rather than inspectors. "So it bloody well should be, you might say on noting the price, but it has been a long time since I paid a bill nudging £80 a head (we had just two glasses of house wine between us) without a rush of psychotic resentment," he said.

However, at the Bingham restaurant in Richmond, John Walsh of The Independent experienced the results of a Michelin-starred chef - Shay Cooper - who is has allowed his creativity to run away with itself. "By the end, we were a tad irritated by that common phenomenon: the chef who disregards what you want and gives you what he thinks may impress you," he complained.

Meanwhile Brett Graham, who has just been awarded a second star at the Ledbury, impressed Jasper Gerard in The Daily Telegraph who said the Australian chef was producing some brilliant food.

The Times' Giles Coren and The Observer's Jay Rayner have different views on the Dean Street Townhouse, the latest venture from Soho House Group. While Coren goes overboard in his enthusiasm for the venue, Rayner is disappointed with its traditional British menu. "There is absolutely no excuse for taking peasant food and gussying it up to such a degree that it loses all sense of purpose," Rayner laments.

Spanish celebrity chef Ferran Adrià has announced he will close his three-Michelin-starred restaurant El Bulli for two years.

Adrià made the unexpected announcement today at a press conference at international culinary congress Madrid Fusion, where he had earlier performed a cookery demonstration.

Sat beside business partner and El Bulli's general manager Juli Soler, the chef said he will temporarily close the iconic restaurant on the north Catalan coast near Barcelona during 2012 and 2013.

Adrià claimed the decision was for a combination of personal and creative reasons. "I'm not retiring," he said.

"It's just that we're not feeding anyone at the restaurant for two years. We will still be working. I don't want to go and sit on a beach in the Bahamas but I think we deserve to lead more normal lives because for 25 years we have been focusing on the restaurant. Now we need more time with our families."

El Bulli, which currently only opens for only six months a year and last year shifted its opening season which previously ran April to October, forward to June to December, will open this year and in 2011 before closing.

According to Adrià the time will be used "to work and transform things at El Bulli" although he said he couldn't yet say exactly what that would mean when the restaurant re-opens in 2014.

Article published with thanks to Joe Warwick

Gordon Ramsay's ability to spot a good restaurant is called into question by The Daily Telegraph's restaurant critic, Jasper Gerard, in his review of The Pheasant in Keyston, Cambridgeshire.

While the food at the gastropub had been portrayed on the F Word during Ramsay's search for the best local restaurant in the UK as accomplished and delicious, Gerard is served a baffling starter and chewy duck. He also finds the décor unloved and "rubbish" and the service unwelcoming.

"Chefs look down on critics because we can't cook, but this experience confirms that chefs can't critique," he says.

An uninspiring looking restaurant - Faanoos - on a suburban street in west London results in a surprisingly good experience for Matthew Norman of The Guardian.

"Early in the decade though it may be for long-term predictions, I can't imagine the next 10 years producing a more pleasingly curious or curiously pleasing meal than the one at Faanoos," he declares, having enjoyed a lavish selection of Persian dishes at ridiculously low prices.

In complete contrast, The Observer's Jay Rayner is convinced that his meal at The Criterion, on London's Piccadilly Circus will probably be his worst of 2010.

Now owned by a group of entrepreneurs from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the Criterion serves Rayner a shot glass of tangerine liquid which makes him wince, scorched roast venison, overcooked sea bass and langoustine which had not been rid of its intestines.

Meanwhile, Martin Ivens heads out to The Pearson's Arms in Whitstable, Kent, for The Sunday Times and enjoys friendly, hospitable service and locally sourced pub food. He says the restaurant is well priced and is keen to return to a venue where the quaint, but warm interior, was "a cheerful tonic".

The Independent's Tracey MacLeod finds it refreshing to choose between dishes that were almost completely unfamiliar at Georgian restaurant Tamada in north London. But while the food is good, she says the chilly, empty modern restaurant fails to capture the spirit of Georgian conviviality.

Mondays are pretty depressing at the best of times but no more so than in January.

So it's good news that the Babylon Restaurant at The Roof Gardens in Kensington, is letting diners pay what they want for their lunch or dinner next Monday, 25 January.

Throughout the day, all dishes including starters, main courses and desserts, will be without their usual price tag, giving diners the chance to pay what they think their meal is worth.

The sad news is that alcoholic drinks aren't included in the deal and will remain at full price. But then again it is January - the month of the New Year, new you mantra - so staying off the booze is probably not a bad thing.

Babylon is donating all proceeds made from food, beverages and tips, to Mission:Possible - the group wide fundraising scheme for Virgin staff established in support of Virgin's sponsorship of the London Marathon.

The Virgin Limited Edition team is committed to raising a total £80,000 for its four runners, including Babylon's very own award winning restaurant manager, Peter Avis.

Tom Kitchin, chef-proprietor of the Micheli-starred Kitchin in Edinburgh, receives fulsome praise from Jasper Gerard in The Daily Telegraph for scouring the Highlands for the best quality ingredients.

The result is an exceptionally well produced menu that is unashamedly Scottish, hardy rather than twirly, showcasing the influence of Kitchin's mentors Pierre Koffmann and Alain Ducasse.

Meanwhile Sicilian restaurant Mennula garners another rave review, with John Walsh in The Independent praising chef-patron Santino Busciglio's knack of combining his grandmother's recipes with new flavours.

In The Times Giles Coren takes up a new cause: that of the vegetarian diner. In his search for a restaurant that serves non-meat eaters with something that is inspiring and enticing, he comes up with a corker in Philip Howard's new restaurant, Kitchen W8 in London.

His counterpart at the Sunday Times, AA Gill, is equally impressed with Kitchen W8 saying that while the food isn't quite as immaculately pristine as The Square, it is far better than anything else you can eat in Kensington.

Jay Rayner, restaurant critic of The Observer, pays a visit to Polpo, a Venetian-style bacaro in London's Soho, and likes what he finds. He is impressed by the authentic bare brick walls and distressed painted wood and - apart from a couple of minor gripes - with the quality and the price of the food, which is served tapas-style.

Michelin's guide for Great Britain and Ireland has awarded its top accolade of three stars to French celebrity chef Alain Ducasse's eponymous restaurant at London's Dorchester hotel.

It is the first time since 2004 that Michelin has handed three new stars to a UK restaurant and brings the total of restaurants holding three stars to four including Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road in London, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck and the Roux's Waterside Inn, both in Bray, Buckinghamshire.

The Ledbury in London is the only restaurant in this year's Michelin guide to have been raised to two-star-status, while 18 establishments have been awarded their first star.

This brings the total of Michelin-starred restaurants in Great Britain and Ireland to 140, the highest number in the guide's 36-year history.

Among the new one-star restaurants is the Harwood Arms in London, which sees Ledbury and Harwood Arms chef Brett Graham as the big winner in this year's guide being awarded a total of three stars at his two restaurants.

Other restaurants celebrating their first Michelin star are: Galvin at Windows, Apsleys A Heinz Beck Restaurant at the Lanesborough, and Texture, all in London, as well as the Samling in Ambleside, Cumbria, The Goose in Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire, and Paul Kitching's 21212 in Edinburgh.

Fifteen restaurants have lost their stars in the 2010 Michelin guide for Great Britain and Ireland, with the most high profile loss being Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's in London. The Capital in London, and the Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire have both been demoted from their respective two-Michelin-star status, following the departure of their respective head chefs Eric Chavot and John Campbell last summer.
 

Michelin has identified four restaurants as rising stars including Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor in Cheshire, who has been tipped as a future two-star establishment.

The Marquis at Alkham, Kent, the Black Swan at Oldstead, North Yorkshire, and Rosel and Co in Padstow, Cornwall, have named as rising one stars.

The 2010 Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland has named 28 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands, a move reflecting a continued trend within the UK dining market towards competitive pricing.

The Bib Gourmand status is awarded to a restaurant offering "good food at moderate prices" at £28 or less for three courses (€40 in Ireland). The 28 new Bib Gourmands bring the total to 31. 

The Burlington Restaurant at the Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel at Bolton Abbey has been awarded four AA-rosettes.

The Michelin-starred restaurant in North Yorkshire joins 24 other establishments in the UK in the ranks of four-AA-rosette-holders.

The AA has also elevated 12 restaurants to three AA-rosette status.

Head chef Steve Smith joined the Devonshire Arms in spring 2008 replacing Michael Wignall and last year gained a Michelin star at the Burlington Restaurant. He was previously head chef at Seaham Hall, County Durham, where he held three rosettes and a Michelin star. The AA praised the Burlington Restaurant for its consistency as well as its innovative and skilful modern cooking.

Devonshire Arms managing director Ian Shelton said: "We are delighted and it goes to show that Steve is a chef of real quality. He has been working incredibly hard over the last few years, not just at the Devonshire Arms but also in his previous roles, and it's fantastic to see that his efforts have paid off."

An additional 12 restaurants have been awarded three AA rosettes. The winners, which include both new and existing establishments across the UK, were praised by the AA for their "high standards".

Three AA rosette winners are:

Colette's at the Grove, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
Restaurant Alimentum, Cambridge
21212, Edinburgh
Aubergine, London
Waldo's at Cliveden, Taplow, Berkshire
Launceston Place, London
The Green Inn, Ballater, Aberdeenshire
Hell Bay Hotel, Bryher, Scilly Isles
The Alderley Restaurant, Alderley Edge, Cheshire
Seven Park Place by William Drabble, London
1901, London
Loves Restaurant, Birmingham