{"id":14,"date":"2007-09-14T13:10:35","date_gmt":"2007-09-14T13:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/fat-duck-restaurant-tops-the-good-food-guide-best-restaurant-in-the-uk\/"},"modified":"2007-09-14T13:10:35","modified_gmt":"2007-09-14T13:10:35","slug":"fat-duck-restaurant-tops-the-good-food-guide-best-restaurant-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/fat-duck-restaurant-tops-the-good-food-guide-best-restaurant-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat Duck Restaurant Tops the Good Food Guide | Best restaurant in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fat Duck flies to the top of the chart<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heston Blumenthal has beaten off fierce competition from rival superchefs and made The Fat Duck the best restaurant in the UK, says The Good Food Guide 2008.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new-look Good Food Guide has for the first time ranked the best UK restaurants to produce a gastronomic top 40*. Gordon Ramsay\u2019s Chelsea restaurant is at number 2, Raymond Blanc\u2019s Le Manoir aux Quat\u2019Saisons at number 3. <\/p>\n

All top-three establishments score nine out of ten, awarded for cooking that \u201creaches a pinnacle of achievement\u201d. But Heston Blumenthal pipped the opposition by producing \u201cwhite-hot gastronomic alchemy\u201d. The Guide\u2019s review is peppered with superlatives: \u201cAstonishing curiosity, daring and consummate technique\u2026 sets the senses racing\u2026 the kitchen works miracles\u201d.<\/p>\n

Heston Blumenthal, chef, The Fat Duck, says: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fat Duck has received huge worldwide acclaim but being voted the Best in Britain is of special significance to us personally. The Good Food Guide is the longest serving UK restaurant guide and we are really privileged to have received this award from their readers – our diners.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The highest new entry is Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall in at number 12, which demonstrates \u201crefined, beautifully crafted cooking\u201d in a relaxed setting. Other newcomers include Gidleigh Park, Devon (\u201cexemplary country-house dining\u201d) at number 18 and Edinburgh\u2019s Kitchin (\u201cclassy cooking in a converted warehouse\u201d) at 38.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Good Food Guide<\/strong> is extremely thorough, as you might expect of a book produced by Which?** The rankings are not just based on expert inspections but also reader feedback, so the evaluations are based on several meals rather than one.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Carter, editor of The Good Food Guide, says:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Gordon Ramsay and Raymond Blanc’s restaurants are unmissable experiences, but The Fat Duck has produced truly stunning food this year. Congratulations to Heston Blumenthal<\/strong> for daring to push at the boundaries of modern cooking and pulling it off spectacularly.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Good Food Guide 2008 can be ordered on 01903 828557<\/strong> (\u00a316.99, p&p free) or at www.which.co.uk or bought from bookshops. <\/p>\n

* The Good Food Guide 2008 Restaurant Top 40 (cooking scores in brackets)<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Fat Duck, Bray (9)\/ 2 Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road, London (9) \/ 3 Le Manoir aux Quat\u2019Saisons, Great Milton (9) \/ 4 Winteringham Fields, Winteringham (8) \/ 5 Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham(8) \/ 6 Le Gavroche, London (8) \/ 7 P\u00e9trus, London (8) \/ 8 Waterside Inn, Bray (8) \/ 9 Vineyard, Stockross (8) \/ 10 Square, London (8) \/ 11 Pied \u00e0 Terre, London (8) \/ 12 Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (8) \/ 13 L\u2019Enclume, Cumbria (8) \/ 14 Tom Aikens, London (8) \/ 15 Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (8) \/ 16 The Capital, London (7) \/ 17 Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham (7) \/ 18 Gidleigh Park (7), Devon \/ 19 Anthony\u2019s, Leeds (7) \/ 20 Juniper, Leeds (7) \/ 21 Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Perthshire (7) \/ 22 Hambleton Hall, Rutland (7) \/ 23 Holbeck Ghyll, Cumbria (7) \/ 24 Fischer\u2019s Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (7) \/ 25 Tyddyn Llan, Wales (7) \/ 26 Harry\u2019s Place, Lincolnshire (7) \/ 27 The Creel, Highlands (7) \/ 28 Mr Underhill\u2019s, Shropshire (7) \/ 29 Bohemia, St Helier, Jersey(7) \/ 30 Castle Hotel, Taunton (7) \/ 31 Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire (7) \/ 32 Old Vicarage, Ridgeway, Derdyshire (7) \/ 33 Midsummer House, Cambridge (6) \/ 34 Maze, London (6) \/ 35 Club Gascon, London (6) \/ 36 Simpsons, West Midlands (6) \/ 37 Bath Priory, Somerset (6) \/ 38 Kitchin, Edinburgh (6) \/ 39 The Greenhouse (6), London \/ 40 Ledbury, London (6).
\nCooking scores<\/p>\n

9\/10 At the moment, this is the highest mark in The Guide and is not given lightly. This mark is for cooking that has reached a pinnacle for achievement, making it a memorable experience for the diner.<\/p>\n

8\/10 A kitchen cooking close to or at the top of its game \u2013 highly individual, showing faultless technique and impressive artistry in dishes that are perfectly balanced for flavour, combination and texture.<\/p>\n

7\/10 High level of ambition and individuality, attention to the smallest detail, accurate and vibrant dishes.<\/p>\n

6\/10 Exemplary cooking skills, innovative ideas, impeccable ingredients and an element of excitement.<\/p>\n

** Now in its 56th edition, The Good Food Guide<\/strong> is completely rewritten every year. It accepts no advertising, sponsorship or fees for inclusion, and all of the inspections are entirely anonymous. Contributors include ex-chefs, restaurateurs and experienced food critics who have undertaken a series of tests to demonstrate their foodie credentials. Reader feedback from real consumers is also essential. Thousands of recommendations are received throughout the year via post and the dedicated online feedback form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fat Duck flies to the top of the chart Heston Blumenthal has beaten off fierce competition from rival superchefs and made The Fat Duck the best restaurant in the UK, says The Good Food Guide 2008. The new-look Good Food Guide has for the first time ranked the best UK restaurants to produce a gastronomic read more …<\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}