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Michelin has awarded two stars to Frantzen/Lindeberg, a fine dining restaurant in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, in the 2010 edition of its guide to the Main Cities of Europe.

Frantzen/Lindeberg has become only the second establishment in Sweden to hold two stars (the other one is Mathias Dahlgren), bringing the total of Michelin-starred restaurants in the Scandinavian country to 11.

The 2010 Main Cities of Europe guide, which concludes Michelin's European coverage for this year, covers 44 cities in 20 countries, including one newly added city, Salzburg, Austria, where the guide awarded one star to Carpe Diem.

It also awarded new stars to Novelli in Vienna, Austria; Costes in Budapest, Hungary; Luomo in Helsinki, Finland; and Hytra in Athens, Greece.

In total the 2010 Main Cities of Europe guide includes 231 Bib Gourmand restaurants and 341 starred establishments, of which 271 hold one star (41 new), 55 are two-starred (5 new) and 15 restaurants hold the top accolade of three stars (one new). View the full list here. 

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.

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

Seven Park Place by William Drabble at the St James's Hotel and Club in London "is perfect", according to Giles Coren.

The Times' food critic says that ex-Aubergine chef Drabble's carefully executed top-end food and the restaurant's  grand furnishing and accommodating staff make him love everything about the place. 

"This is a grown-up, serious restaurant for people who eat out a lot and want a treat, who can afford it, and won't be intimidated by its elegance," Coren says.

"It's not a first-date place. It's not for teenagers. It's not for clench-arsed, sour-faced lefties or fin-haired hipsters manqués. But it's absolutely perfect for me."

The Daily Telegraph's Jasper Gerard is immediately impressed by the look of Chris and Jeff Galvin's latest venture, Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields.

"It's hard to think of another London dining room more awe-inspiring," he enthuses.

Meanwhile Italian restaurant Mennula impresses Toby Young in The Independent on Sunday, who says it is the place in town to find good tasting, simple Sicilain food. 

The Observer's Jay Rayner enjoys a fabulous breakfast at the Farmcafe & Foodmarket in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

"There are many reasons for going to Suffolk. The Farmcafé surely has to be one of them," he says.

AA Gill reviews the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park in the Sunday Times and says that while it wasn't quite the worst koch he's eaten it was still pretty awful.

Michelin has launched its first guide to the Japanese cities of Kyoto and Osaka and has awarded seven restaurants with the top accolade of three stars.

The Kyoto and Osaka guide is Michelin's second in Japan after its Tokyo guide which first launched two years ago. It published its first guide to Hong Kong and Macau last year.

Michelin awarded a total of 150 restaurants and ryokans (traditional hotels) a total of 189 stars including 110 in Kyoto, shared among 85 establishments, and 79 in Osaka among 65 restaurants.

Seven restaurants were awarded three stars including Chihana, a 63-year-old, family-run restaurant in Kyoto's geisha district of Gion; and Osaka's Hajime, which serves French food cooked by chef-patron Hajime Yoneda.

A total of 25 establishments were given two Michelin-stars, while 118 were awarded one star.

Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret said the guide presented a rich and interesting selection of restaurants symbolising the dynamic culinary scene of the two cities.

"In Kyoto we selected restaurants which offer excellent dishes by inheriting and developing culinary tradition. In Osaka, we discovered talented chefs who receive good culinary education and offer creative and original cuisine," he said."

French chef Daniel Boulud's flagship restaurant in New York has been awarded the top accolade of three stars in the city's 2010 Michelin guide.

His restaurant Daniel on Manhattan's Upper East Side has joined Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Masa and Per Se in the guide's list of top eateries bringing New York's three-star restaurants to five.

With speculation mounting that Boulud is planning a restaurant in London next year, the accolade reinforces his status as one of the world's most renowned chefs.

Meanwhile the fortunes were reversed for fellow French chef Alain Ducasse's Adour restaurant at Manhattan's St Regis hotel, which has lost a star and dropped from two- to one-Michelin-star status.

The development is particularly bitter as the restaurant, which opened in spring last year, replaced Ducasse's previous New York eaterie at Essex House which held the top accolade of three Michelin stars until its closure in 2006.

Gordon Ramsay's eponymous restaurant at the London hotel in Manhattan's Midtown retained its two stars, despite recently reported problems of food hygiene. 

The 2010 Michelin guide to New York awarded a record 20 new stars including one new three-star; two new two-star; and 17 new one-star restaurants. New York now has a total of 78 Michelin-starred restaurants, compared with 69 in Paris and 49 in London.

The guide identified 31 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands (offering two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for less than $40), bringing the total to 85. It also selected 109 restaurants offering a meal for less than $25.

Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham has won the AA's top accolade of five rosettes.

The Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms on the outskirts of Nottingham was the only restaurant to have been given the top award at the 2009-2010 AA Hospitality Awards held at the London Hilton Park Lane last night.

The restaurant was recognised for its continued high standards and for providing inspiration to peers throughout the industry.

Housed in a converted Victorian farmhouse, the 32-seat restaurant is renowned for its trademark tasting menus that include a degustation menu offering diners a taste of 12 different courses.

Bains said he was "absolutely blown away" by the accolade. "It's a great testament to what we are doing here at the restaurant and it's fantastic to be recognised in this way," he said.

"When I found out I was totally speechless, which to those who know me well is a very rare occurrence."

Four rosettes were awarded to Claude Bosi's two-Michelin-starred restaurant Hibiscus and French chef Hélène Darroze's Michelin-starred restaurant at the Connaught hotel, both in London; as well as Michael Wignall at the Michelin-starred Latymer at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot, Surrey.

Good news for Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay: according to the latest edition of the Good Food Guide the celebrity chefs are still at the top of their game when it comes to restaurants.

The restaurant bible has named Heston Blumenthal's three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, the best restaurant in Britain awarding it a perfect score of ten out of ten for the second year in a row.

Gordon Ramsay's flagship three-Michelin-starred restaurant on London's Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea scored nine out of ten making it the second most popular UK restaurant in the Good Food Guide 2010.

The awards will no doubt have some critics up in arms.

The Good Food Guide 2010 is published on 8 September priced £16.99.

This week's Restaurant of the Week is one of my favourite London restaurants: Arbutus in Soho.

Anthony Demetre and Will Smith launched their first solo venture Arbutus on Frith Street in Soho in May 2006 and the restaurant became an instant hit with the critics.

With Smith in charge of front of house and Demetre behind the stove, Arbutus gained universal praise for its competitive pricing policy, excellent food and its casual, non-tablecloth approach to fine dining. It scooped up a string of awards for best new restaurant and received a coveted Michelin star in 2007.

The backbone of the success of Arbutus (and indeed sister restaurant Wild Honey) has been Demetre's ability to keep costs down in the kitchen by using cheaper ingredients yet still turn out above average cuisine.

Arbutus offers a three-course lunch menu at £15.50 as well as a pre-theatre menu priced £17.50, with a two course à la carte meal costing an average of £35 including wine.

Not bad for a Michelin-starred restaurant.