The announcement of the latest Michelin Guide today was a bitter occasion for Cumbria.

The highest accolades for top class cooking were revealed at a special ceremony in London attended by some of the UK's top chefs.

The Samling at Windermere lost its one star credit after chef Nick Edgar announced he was leaving.

The hotel, which overlooks Windermere, has recruited Peter Howarth, formerly head chef of the two Michelin-starred Gidleigh Park in Devon.

Kevin Tickle at Forest Side in Grasmere and Hrishikesh Desai at the Gilpin Hotel and Lake House in Windermere both maintained the stars they were awarded for the 2017 Guide.

Tickle won his award within just eight months of opening.

Gilpin's Executive Chef, joined the hotel in March 2015. He is a previous winner of Alex Polizzi's BBC2 Chefs on Trial.

And Simon Rogan at L'Enclume in Cartmel maintained his two stars.

Tickle worked under Rogan at L'Enclume, as did Mark Birchall, who has won his first Michelin star just six months after opening Moor Hall near Aughton, Lancashire.

Meanwhile, Cassie and Jake White are just about to add to the county's food excellence when they open the revamped Pentonbridge Inn, near Longtown.

Jake was head chef at Wareing's flagship fine dining restaurant Marcus at The Berkeley Hotel in London where he retained its two Michelin stars.

Nick Edgar is taking time off to spend with his family.

Samling general manager Alasdair Elwick said: "We knew we were losing the award, but it is onwards and upwards with Peter who starts this week."

Nine-seat sushi restaurant with £300 set menu gains three Michelin Stars

A £300-per-person sushi restaurant with just nine seats is the latest British eaterie to gain three Michelin stars.

The Araki, which opened off Regent Street in London in 2014, joins four other UK restaurants in the top tier in the latest Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland, announced on Monday.

Its elevation means that Mitsuhiro Araki regains the three stars he won at the "edomae sushi" restaurant in Tokyo before bringing it to the capital three years ago.

Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin guides, said: "With its nine-seater counter, The Araki has gone from strength to strength.

"When Mitsuhiro Araki moved to London from Tokyo in 2014 he set himself the challenge of using largely European fish and his sushi is now simply sublime."

The Araki's website boasts that "every seat is at the chef's table" at the upmarket venue in Mayfair.

It describes edomae sushi as originating in the Japanese capital 200 years ago, which is prepared by Mr Araki personally "according to the historic tradition of sado (tea ceremony) tradition".

It has only one set menu, the "omakase" sushi menu, for £300 per person and notes it is "unable to accommodate dietary requirements".

Four other restaurants retained their three-star rating in the new list: Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck and Alain Roux's Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire; Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester in Park Lane and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, which retained its award under new chef Matt Abe.

Twenty restaurants now have two stars, including a new entry by Claude Bosi at French foodery Bibendum, also in Chelsea, which gains a second star.

Seventeen restaurants gained one star, bringing the total number holding a star to 150.

They include celebrity chef Tom Kerridge's pub, The Coach, in Marlow, Bucks, and Michael Caines' Lympstone Manor in Devon.

There are also stars for the Wild Honey Inn, a pub in Lisdoonvarna in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland.

Michael Smith also won a star for Loch Bay, his restaurant in a converted crofter's house on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

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