Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester has joined The Fat Duck, The Waterside Inn and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay as a three star restaurant in the 2010 Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland.
The Ledbury was the only new two star restaurant, joining 13 others while 18 establishments, four of them pubs, picked up their first Michelin star.
The 2010 edition of the UK guide was due to be released on Tuesday (19 January), but Michelin took the decision to release news of the list today after it found out books had been sent out ahead of the publication date.
Guide editor Derek Bulmer said establishments who had been more 'flexible and creative' during the recession had generally been more successful.
"There is now a greater geographical spread of starred restaurants and the inspectors will continue to seek out establishments serving particularly good food, wherever they are situated," he said.
“As we head into this new decade, the hotel and restaurant industry appears to be leaner and fitter. Greater emphasis is being placed on satisfying customers’ needs; diversity continues to be one of the UK’s greater strengths and the public’s interest in chefs, food and cooking shows no sign of abating.”
Previous two-star restaurants The Capital, which saw the departure of Eric Chavot last year and The Vineyard at Stockcross, who lost John Campbell to Coworth Park, have both lost their stars while 13 restaurants, including Bath Priory, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Seaham Hall and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's - lost their stars.
New One Star restaurants:
The Samling, Ambleside, Cumbria
The Pipe & Glass Inn, East Riding of Yorkshire
The Royal Oak, Bray-on-Thames, Windsor & Maidenhead
The Goose, Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire
Sienna, Dorset, Dorchester
21212, Edinburgh
The Peat Inn, Peat Inn, Fife
Kinloch Lodge, Isle of Skye, Highland
The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire
Ynyshir Hall, Machynllet, Powys
The House (at Cliff House Hotel), Ardmore, Waterford
The Harwood Arms, Fulham, London
Bingham Restaurant (at Bingham Hotel), Richmond-upon-Thames, London
Apsleys (at The Lanesborough Hotel), Belgravia, London
Galvin at Windows (at London Hilton Hotel), Mayfair, London
Tamarind, Mayfair, London
Texture, Mayfair, London
New Two Star restaurants:
The Ledbury, North Kensington, London
New Three Star restaurants:
Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Mayfair, London
One Star deletions:
Bath Priory, Bath, Somerset
Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, Brockenhurst, Hampshire
Christophe, Guernsey, Channel Islands
Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall
Seaham Hall, Seaham, Durham
Aubergine, Chelsea, London
Ambassade de l'Ile, South Kensington, Lodnon
Assaggi, Bayswater, London
Foliage, Knightsbridge, London
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, Mayfair, London
Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House, Soho, London
Ballachulish House, Ballachulish, Highland
Mint, Ranelagh, Dublin
Two Star deletions:
The Capital, Chelsea, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, Berkshire