Gastronomic discovery: The only Michelin three-star British restaurants outside of London
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the humdrum of fast food joints are Michelin Star restaurants, high-quality eateries that provide some of the very best food that planet Earth has to offer. Often headed up by iconic chefs from across the globe, including Gordon Ramsay, Pierre Gagnaire and Hélène Darroze, these restaurants have enough gastronomic know-how to make your mastication orgasmic.
Better known for their car tyres, the Michelin brothers Andre and Edouard created their first guidebook in 1900 to encourage people to purchase automobiles, which in turn increased their sales of tyres. The guide was given out for free and included tips on how to maintain one’s vehicle, as well as popular sites of interest, such as hotels and restaurants, which soon became its biggest selling point.
Soon enough, sales of the guide began to rise steadily, becoming a hit across the entirety of Europe. Today, the guide covers 37 countries across four continents and is known for its world-class coverage of some of the globe’s very best restaurants, with France taking the prize for being the country with the most Michelin Stars, including 30 three-star sites and 75 two-star eateries.
While France boasts 30 three-star restaurants, Britain can only muster nine, with just three of these being located outside of London.
Still, you wouldn’t have to venture far from the capital to find two of these restaurants, with the Elizabeth Line being able to take you almost straight outside their doors. The first and arguably most famous three-star restaurant in Britain is Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, located on High Street, Bray. Known for his whacky approach to gastronomy, the menu for the Fat Duck is referred to as a “Sensorium” and a “journey through the mind,” making Blumenthal’s odyssey almost sound like an ordeal.
But love it or hate it, you can have a similar three-star experience merely four minutes away at The Waterside Inn on Ferry Road. Also located in Bray, the restaurant is owned by Alain Roux, the son of world-famous chef Michel Roux. It offers a French-inspired menu that makes you feel like you’re taking in the culture by the banks of the Seine rather than being a stone’s throw from the Thames.
However, to get to the only three-star restaurant that’s properly outside of London, you will have to jump on a train or stick on Mm..Food by MF Doom and drive yourself to the village of Cartmel, Cumbria. A modest location at the base of the Lake District, L’Enclume offers seasonal ingredients from their own farm for a warming experience that feels as organic as the food on the plate.
The only restaurant on this list to also feature a Michelin Green Star, which recognises the sustainability of a particular eatery, chef Simon Rogan states: “At L’Enclume we use ingredients from our 12-acre farm, which was designed by chefs, for chefs; along with local suppliers for meat and fish. We have continually developed preserving methods over the past decade to enable us to extend the time we can rely on our own growing.”
If that’s not a good reason to venture outside the bustle of London, we don’t know what is.
