The Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland has been announced, with 11 Scottish restaurants retaining their stars, and one securing a second.
This year's ceremony was hosted at the Midland hotel in Manchester where stars, green stars and special awards for 2024 were revealed.
Following the event, we’ve put together a handy guide to the Michelin Stars and the Scottish restaurants that have achieved the pinnacle of professional cooking.
What is the Michelin Guide?
Although the word Michelin now has connotations of fine dining and luxury, the guide itself has much humbler origins.
Brothers André and Édouard Michelin of the Michelin tyre company launched the guide in 1900, in an effort to encourage road travel by compiling a list of hotels, restaurants, mechanics and gas stations.
The “Little Red Book” quickly became a respected and influential publication with the star rating system later introduced in 1926.
READ MORE: What it takes to run a Michelin Star restaurant in Scotland
How is a Michelin Star restaurant chosen?
Michelin Stars are awarded to restaurants that demonstrate “outstanding cooking” with five universal criteria taken into account.
They are:
- The quality of the ingredients.
- The harmony of flavours.
- The mastery of techniques.
- The personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine.
- The consistency both across the entire menu and over time.
Stars are reassessed annually to ensure that high standards are maintained.
'READ MORE: An amazing 10 years': Michelin Star Scottish restaurant set to be sold
Who judges the Michelin Stars?
The anonymous Michelin inspectors are full-time employees who were previously restaurant and hospitality industry professionals.
“Several” inspectors visit each restaurant and share their experiences with each other before a final decision is reached.
Jo Radford from Timberyard restaurant in Edinburgh told the Herald: “It used to be a classic ‘single diner’ kind of thing where automatically everyone would be on high alert.
“We’ve noticed a lot more, especially now that Michelin is posting on Twitter, that its a discreet photo with two dishes, indicating that they’ve come as a pair.
“Businesses do also start to share things, saying ‘I’ve heard Michelin are in town’ so you start to backtrack and try to remember faces.
“But it is mysterious, and they want to keep it that way."
What is the highest Michelin Star rating?
The highest possible Michelin rating is three stars.
One star is awarded to restaurants considered to offer "high-class cooking, worth a stop".
Two stars are for "excellent cooking, worth a detour."
Finally, three stars are reserved for "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”
What are Michelin Green Stars and Bib Gourmands?
Michelin Green Stars are awarded annually to restaurants “at the forefront of the industry when it comes to their sustainable practices”.
The only Scottish restaurant to hold a Green Star is Inver, a former crofter’s cottage and boat store on the shores of Loch Fyne that specialises in fresh seafood and in season native meat and game.
A Bib Gourmand is “not quite a star”, but still an important accolade awarded to restaurants that serve “good food at moderate prices".
Bib Gourmands are named after the Michelin Group's official mascot, Bibendum.
Special Awards honour the “brilliant individuals and teams who make the restaurant industry so special and last year included chef mentor, young chef and sommelier categories”.
This year, tipo in Edinburgh was the only Scottish restaurant to receive a new Bib Gourmand.
Named after the fine Italian '00' flour that is used to make pasta, tipo is a sister venue to Aizle, Noto and Lyla from chef Stuart Ralston.
Which restaurants in Scotland hold Michelin Stars?
A full list of the 11 Michelin Star restaurants in Scotland is as follows:
Timberyard, Edinburgh
Heron, Edinburgh
Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Auchterader (Two stars)
Condita, Edinburgh
The Peat Inn, Fife
The Kitchin, Edinburgh
Cail Bruich, Glasgow
Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
Loch Bay, Isle of Skye
Glenturret Lalique, Crieff (two stars)
Unalome By Graeme Cheevers, Glasgow
Until last night, the only Scottish location to hold two Stars was Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.
They have retained the rating for a 19th year, but are now joined by The Glenturret Lalique.
A spokesperson for the restaurant said: “This is an ecstatic moment for us; we are all thrilled to have been awarded a second Michelin star and happy too that Scotland is getting the recognition it deserves as a gastronomic destination.
"We are located in Scotland’s Oldest Working Distillery, and we will all be enjoying a dram of Glenturret whisky to celebrate.”️️
READ MORE: How a restaurant in Scotland's oldest working distillery achieved two Michelin Stars
Michelin Stars in Scotland:
Scotland’s first Michelin star was awarded to the Peat Inn in Fife under chef David Wilson in the 1980s.
The city of Glasgow famously had no Michelin star restaurants for a period of 18 years following the closure of Gordon Ramsay’s Amaryllis in 2004.
In 2021, chef Lorna McNee at Cail Bruich was awarded a star which has been retained every year since.
In 2022, just 8 months after opening, Unalome by Graeme Cheevers became the second restaurant in Glasgow to receive a star.
Last year’s two new Michelin Stars for Scotland, Timberyard and Heron, are both located in Edinburgh.
Heron chef patron Sam Yorke, now 26, made history when the star was awarded in 2023 as the youngest chef in Scottish history to receive the honour at the age of 25
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