Clare Smyth – the chef and proprietor of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea – has become the first woman in 15 years to be awarded a perfect 10 score in the Good Food Guide to Britain’s top restaurants.
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is the celebrity chef’s flagship venue and one of three restaurants – the others are Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, and Simon Rogan’s restaurant L’Enclume in Cumbria – to gain top 10 scores in the 64th issue of the guide.
It is the first time since 1999 that three restaurants have scored full marks. The honour was last shared by Nico Ladenis at Chez Nico, Marco Pierre White’s Oak Room and Gunn Eriksen at the Altnaharrie Inn at Loch Broom, Ullapool, in Scotland.
Elizabeth Carter, the guide’s consultant editor, said: “After a break of a decade, Gordon Ramsay’s Chelsea flagship has once again been awarded a perfect 10.
“Now the domain of Clare Smyth, with support from what is without doubt one of the best front-of-house teams in the UK, this most impressive of London’s premier restaurants is back in that elite club.
“Further congratulations, too, for Miss Smyth is the first female chef to achieve our top score in 15 years. With her brilliantly artistic, elegant, modern French cooking she perfectly complements the witty, cerebral Fat Duck and the sensual farm-to-table delights of L’Enclume at the pinnacle of our top 50 list.”
Five London restaurants made the 2014 Good Food Guide’s top 10: step forward Pollen Street Social, The Square and The Ledbury as well as the aforementioned Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
The guide, compiled by experts on public recommendations, includes pubs and cafés and will be available to buy in Waitrose and bookstores on 8 September.
This year’s Good Food Guide top 50 restaurants, with the cooking score in brackets, are as follows. How many have you ticked off?
1. L’Enclume, Cumbria (10)
2. The Fat Duck, Berkshire (10)
3. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London (10)
4. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (9)
5. Hibiscus, London (9)
6. Pollen Street Social, London (9)
7. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottinghamshire (9)
8. The Square, London (8)
9. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucestershire (8)
10. The Ledbury, London (8)
11. Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Tayside (8)
12. Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire (8)
13. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire (8)
14. The French, Manchester (8)
15. Le Gavroche, London (8)
16. Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire (8)
17. Fraiche, Merseyside (8)
18. Andre Garrett at Cliveden, Berkshire (7)
19. Fera at Claridges, London (7)
20. Marcus, London (7)
21. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (7)
22. The Kitchin, Edinburgh (7)
23. The Waterside Inn, Berkshire (7)
24. Pied-a-Terre, London (7)
25. Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London (7)
26. Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Surrey (7)
27. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (7)
28. Artichoke, Buckinghamshire (7)
29. Fischer’s Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (7)
30. Restaurant James Sommerin, Glamorgan (7)
31. The Peat Inn, Fife (7)
32. Murano, London (7)
33. Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Cornwall (7)
34. Gidleigh Park, Devon (7)
35. Hedone, London (7)
36. Hambleton Hall, Rutland (7)
37. Restaurant Story, London (7)
38. The Pass, West Sussex (7)
39. Casamia, Bristol (7)
40. Ynyshir Hall, Powys (7)
41. Freemasons at Wiswell, Lancashire (7)
42. Helene Darroze at the Connaught, London (6)
43. The Hand & Flowers, Buckinghamshire (6)
44. Yorke Arms, Ramsgill, Yorkshire (6)
45. Paris House, Bedfordshire (6)
46. Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire (6)
47. The Raby Hunt, Durham (6)
48. Chiltern Firehouse, London (6)
49. Northcote, Lancashire (6)
50. The Clove Club, London (6)