RESTAURANTS
No cigarettes at the table, but plenty of phones
RESTAURANTS THEN
Smoking at the table – the ban was introduced in 2007. Flashy, large London restaurants, led by the opening of Quaglino’s (1993) and Atlantic (1994) Silver domes Huge white plates Classic French wines French fine dining Soufflés, coulis and jus
THE HOT LIST 1999 RESTAURANT MARCO PIERRE WHITE, LONDON
White retired at the peak of his career at the end of 1999, after his restaurant won the maximum three Michelin stars and four “knife and fork” awards.
PETRUS, LONDON
Gordon Ramsay’s second restaurant, headed up by Marcus Wareing, opened in 1999.
PHARMACY, LONDON
Damien Hirst’s Notting Hill restaurant opened in 1998 and attracted a hip crowd, including Kate Moss and David Bowie.
THE IVY, LONDON
The glory days of the Ivy, where the Spice Girls might be tucking into the famous fishcakes at a table next to John Gielgud or Brad Pitt.
MERCHANT HOUSE, SHROPSHIRE
Shaun Hill cooked and washed up in his Michelin-starred kitchen in Ludlow, while wife Anja ran front of house. By 2001, the market town had two other Michelin stars, at Hibiscus and Mr Underhill’s.
LE MANOIR AUX QUAT’SAISONS, OXFORDSHIRE
Raymond Blanc’s country house hotel had been going since 1984, but it was still the place for a blowout.
RESTAURANTS NOW
Mobile phones and flash photography at the table Small, stripped-back restaurants, such as Ducksoup, or those in shops, such as P Franco Cooking on fire Sharing plates “Natural” wines Nordic fine dining Smears, soil and smoke
THE HOT LIST 2019 L’ENCLUME, CUMBRIA
Simon Rogan led the regional revival with his Cumbrian ingredients-led cuisine.
MOOR HALL, LANCASHIRE
Rogan’s former head chef Mark Birchall won Restaurant of the Year for his restaurant-with-rooms
INVER, ARGYLL & BUTE
Chef Pamela Brunton is reinventing Scottish cooking on the banks of a remote loch west of Glasgow.
CORE, LONDON
Ramsay’s former head chef Clare Smyth heads up her own kitchen with vegetable-focused dishes.
YNYSHIR, POWYS
Japanese-Scandi influenced but Welsh in spirit, chef Gareth Jones makes everything, even tapping the local birch trees to make a birch version of maple syrup.