As many of you have heard, the big news for restaurant obsessives this week is the (leaked) release of the 2010 update to the Michelin Guide. As usual, there are some winners, some losers and some shock decisions where potentials didn’t make the big time. Whether you love it or hate it, backpatting exercise or true culinary standard, winning a michelin star (or two) is still seen by many as the ultimate accolade in the restaurant world. The iconic Red Guide has been kicking around Britain since 1974 and in it’s latest iteration has decided to award another three jewel to the British gastronomical crown. As of 2010, Britain now boasts four three-star restaurants. The lucky fella is of course the international brand name Alain Ducasse, and the winning restaurant is based in the Dorchester… which coincidentally is owned by the Sultan of Brunei

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Official Site 13-15 West Street WC2H 9NE 0207 010 8600 Set Lunch £25 for three courses; Ala carte £expensive. Photography is an addiction. The kit lens that comes packaged with a standard digital SLR is never enough, all it does is make you lust after the very best lenses either Nikon or Canon have in their arsenal. I am £400 poorer but oddly enough, feeling good about it. What better way to celebrate this than to lunch at the two Michelin starred, internationally hyped sensation that is L’atelier de Joel Robuchon

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Official site Wilton Place SW1X 7RL (0)20 7235 1200  Knightsbridge Tube £ 75.00 ala carte, £ 35.00 set lunch In the searing heat of the 2006 summer, Jennie Bond presented the first episodes of the Great British Menu. The premise was cook-off between some of the best chefs in the country to decide who would cook for the Queen’s 80th birthday bash. It doubled as a campaign to promote what was then, a rather low view on British haute cuisine. Back then, I was but a wide eyed boy mesmerised by the unfolding glamorous world of gifted men of sharp tastebuds and in command of ultra fresh ingredients. The pudding that made it to the Queen’s table wasn’t a molecular gastronomical concoction dreamed, instead it was a custard tart Marcus’ mum made when he was a child. I watched his intense concentration in baking that tart on TV and just the mere sight of the finished product had me salivating. I have nothing but immense respect for Mr Wareing, the perfectionist, the disciplinarian, the first Ramsay Protégé and abit of a personal cooking god for me. Three years later, with but a grain of sand’s worth of gastronomical knowledge, I am upon the footsteps of Wareing temple at Berkeley Hotel, the site formerly of Petrus and I am here to eat a perfect egg custard tart

The Square official website 6-10 Bruton Street, Mayfair W1J 6PU 44 (0) 20 7495 7100 £ 35.00 set menu , £ 75.00 a la carte three courses There is cause for abit of celebration because this is my 100th post. With that, it is only appropriate that I mark this momentous occasion with a write-up on one of London’s pre-eminent restaurants; Philip Howard’s The Square. A two Michelin star establishment, I duly avoided the set menu and blew my load on the a la menu. The Square is not quite in the world top 50 (yet) – but in London, it’s quite highly revered. The man in the hot seat -a certain Mr Howard- was once a former apprentice of the mighty Roux Empire and he also served under the temperamental genius of Marco Pierre White. As of 2009, Philip has achieved dizzy heights in culinary terms – an artist seasoning his works with shades of French sophistication, everything about Philip and The Square screams glamour. Including the location of the restaurant in Bruton Street, tucked away in Berkerley ( ‘Bar’-ker-ly) Street which is home to luminaries such as Nobu B. and Benares. Folks, I’m expecting fireworks from this one, you better pull up a chair