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Perhaps the most famous seafood restaurant in Britain first appeared in The Good Food Guide in 1981, although, as the Guide noted in 1986: ‘It has taken 11 years for the people around Padstow to discover the restaurant – now it is difficult to get a table and there are plans to expand.’ Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, these excerpts ...
Not for nothing was Joyce Molyneux celebrated as a leading chef. Highly acclaimed by The Good Food Guide, and the first female chef in Britain to be awarded a Michelin star (1978), the restaurant she founded and co-owned was at the forefront of modern British cooking in the 1970s and 1980s. The Carved Angel’s very first appearance in the Guide ...
Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver have been responsible for one of the most important breakaway movements in modern British cooking. They got things spot-on from the start and became pacesetters for a new generation. In celebration of their 30 years in The Good Food Guide and their place in the shortlist for Restaurant of the Year at The Good Food Guide ...
With The Ritz Restaurant in the running for Restaurant of the Year at The Good Food Guide Awards 2025, in partnership with OpenTable, we’ve been dipping into the archives to trace its story of influence in British dining. From ‘indulgent, obese luxury’ in the 80s, to its omission from the Guide in the 90s, and the stabilising arrival of John ...
When, in 2002, Gordon Ramsay put one of his star protégés in charge of the Connaught the shock expressed by the old guard at an institution and formerly male bastion being rejuvenated by a female chef made headlines. In 2008, Angela Hartnett went on to open Murano, originally with Gordon Ramsay Holdings. Tucked discreetly in among the converted townhouse offices ...
Nick Nairn was one of the first chefs to turn himself into a ‘celebrity’, and did so via the BBC’s then wildly popular show Ready Steady Cook. But Nairn was a star in the kitchen as well as on the screen. He opened his first restaurant, Braeval Old Mill, near Aberfoyle in 1986, and went on to open the acclaimed Nairn’s in Glasgow ...
In the 1998 edition of The Good Food Guide, Nico Ladenis scored a perfect 10 for Chez Nico at Ninety Park Lane. Here’s what the Guide had to say.
It is worth remembering that when Albert and Michel Roux opened Le Gavroche in 1967 – decamping from Lower Sloane Street to Upper Brook Street in 1981 – they introduced top-class gastronomy to the UK.
The great chef Richard Shepherd died on 23 November, 2022. Here, we offer a snapshot of his time at Langan’s Brasserie. The year was 1978, early into a tenure that spanned more than 30 years.
British dining has come a long way since 2010, and much has changed. Before we announce our 'Top 20 most exciting restaurants in Britain' list on 17 October, we journey back to a time when The Fat Duck was the place to be, and Gordon Ramsay wasn't quite - quite! - as famous.
