Nine seats but it has three Michelin stars
Japanese restaurant The Araki gets food accolade and becomes one of the country’s top five eateries
THERE are only nine seats, and guests sit in a row at a small counter. There, they must eat from one set menu for an eye-watering £300 a pop, not including drinks or service, and dietary requirements are not accommodated.
Such specifications have earned exclusive Japanese restaurant The Araki, which insists that every seat is at the chef’s table, a third Michelin star, the ultimate recognition of gastronomic excellence. The accolade sees the owner, Japanese sushi master Mitsuhiro Araki, regain the three stars he won at his Edomae sushi restaurant in Tokyo before closing it to relocate to London three years ago, elevating him to the lofty ranks of the UK and Ireland’s top five restaurants.
Michelin’s 2018 guide, published yesterday, states that the tiny restau- rant, just off Regent Street in Mayfair, has “gone from strength to strength”. It adds: “When Mitsuhiro Araki moved to London in 2014 he set himself the challenge of using largely European fish, and his sushi is now simply sublime.”
Araki presents his “omakase” chef ’s menu on two sittings a night, comprising only sushi, and incorporating, as one might expect, luxury ingredients including caviar and truffle. The 51-year-old chef, who is joined by his wife, Yoko, and one assistant, relocated from Japan partly because his daughter is at boarding school in the UK, and partly because he fancied a challenge.
The restaurant joins a select top tier with three Michelin stars: The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn in Bray, Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, which retained the award under its new chef, Matt Abé.
Elsewhere, two Indian restaurants are among the 17 awarded a Michelin star for the first time; Vineet Bhatia London and Jamavar, in Mayfair. Their inclusion takes the total of Indian restaurants featured in the guide to nine, the highest in its history, falling in behind only British and French cuisine.
Rohit Ghai, executive chef of Jamavar, told The Daily Telegraph: “It is fantastic to see so many Indian restaurants in the guide. Chefs are able to push the boundaries a little more now.”
The statistics suggest that high-end Indian cuisine is bucking the trend of high-street curry houses, which are in steep decline – one in two curry houses is expected to close within 10 years.
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. A total of 150 restaurants now hold one star, including Tom Kerridge’s pub, The Coach, in Marlow, Bucks.
A spokeswoman for the guide said that while there has been no change in criteria for Michelin stars, experts had noted a move towards “more casual” dining experiences over the past 10 or 15 years, and was proud to recognise and celebrate that change.