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New Michelin stars for restaurants in the U.K. and Ireland will be announced on 16 Februrary 2022, from 10 a.m. U.K. time. The only restaurant arbitrating tyre manufacturer in the world is pressing ahead with doling out its accolades, with the event once again digital-only.
Digital-only and streamed live, the ceremony’s usual cadence of gaffes, incongruous corporate alliances, and a generally amateur and bizarre vibe is unlikely to change. The demographic of its stars — over the years more readily handed out to European restaurants run by men, in addition to expensive sushi restaurants and high-end South Asian establishments in London — is unlikely to change. The eagle-eyed will notice this paragraph is copied from last year’s announcement, in homage to the intransigence of the institution it discusses.
Michelin, however, has added that this year it will include “exclusive content – including social media stories and posts, as well as via editorial articles – to be published on the international Instagram account, the UK Twitter account and the UK & Ireland MICHELIN Guide websites.” The eagle-eyed will recall that Michelin’s U.K. Twitter account is, in short, famously whack.
Last year, Michelin added 12 stars to its London cohort and removed eight, having declared a desire to support restaurants in spite of its reputation as a heartbreaker. Those additions included some surprises, chief among them Behind in London Fields, a restaurant only open for 20 days at that time featuring in a guide that prides itself on consistency and repeated visits. It also awarded both Core by Clare Smyth and Hélène Darroze at the Connaught a prestigious third star, to which Darroze said “putain ... I don’t know what to say.”
More soon closer to the announcement.