In the huge auditorium at London’s BFI Imax cinema, the venue for the glitzy Michelin Guide Star Revelation event, the buzz was palpable among the 400 invited guests.
They included a record 180 chefs from around Great Britain and Ireland. Andrew Fairlie, Tom Kitchin, Michael Smith, Billy Boyter and Geoffrey Smeddle were some of the Scots chef-patrons among them.
Gordon Ramsay, chef-patron of his eponymous triple-starred London restaurant, got massive applause as he took the stage to present new Michelin stars to what turned out to be 21 restaurants in London, England and Ireland.
Yet again, I found myself stunned when Scotland was not mentioned. No new stars north of the Border, despite general anticipation at least two or three fantastic restaurants run by passionate young chefs would be awarded their first gong.
Even worse, we lost three – bringing Scotland to a new low of just eight single stars and one double-star.
It’s difficult not to feel disappointed – all right then, seriously hacked off – on behalf of our fantastic young chef-patrons’ efforts in transforming Scotland’s eating-out scene into something unimaginable just a few years ago.
What galled most was the restaurants that were awarded new stars seemed to get them because what they did with fresh, local produce – cooking simply with emotion that “came from the heart” and often in derelict croft houses or pubs – is precisely what is happening up here. Inver at Strachur, the Whitehouse in Lochaline and Fhior in Edinburgh are just a few that spring to mind.
Is it a case of biding their time until the stars come? Many Scots restaurateurs will feel neglected and undervalued, and that online and customer polls are more influential than Michelin.
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