The Michelin Stars for 2024 were announced this week, here in Manchester at the Midland Hotel. Despite hosting the ceremony, Manchester isn’t the starriest destination in the galaxy when it comes to these awards (we’ve still got just one, at Mana). But it is well-placed if you don’t mind driving for an hour or so.
Cumbria has more than its fair share with a cluster of stars around Simon Rogan‘s base in Cartmel plus several more further north in the Lake District – including a new star for Lake Road Kitchen in Ambleside. Likewise, there’s a constellation over in Ormskirk with Solo, Moor Hall and The Barn.
Closer to home, your options are the aforementioned Mana or you can head to Where the Light Gets In which has a Green Michelin Star. These are given to good-quality restaurants which put sustainability and ethical business practices first.
Read on for more Michelin Star restaurants that you can visit from Manchester:
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Cumbria
Allium at Askham Hall
Allium at Askham Hall has a dedication to seasonality that is rare, for all the term is bandied about these days. The restaurant is almost entirely self-sufficient, relying on the produce grown in the kitchen gardens. The estate also farms rare breeds and local native breeds which are raised for their flavour not commercial profitability – the proof is on the plate.
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Skipton
The Angel at Hetton
One of the stars of TV’s The Trip with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan – and awarded a Michelin star in 2021 – The Angel at Hetton is the original gastro pub with rooms.
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Aughton
The Barn at Moor Hall
The Barn is the sister restaurant of Mark Birchall’s Michelin starred Moor Hall at Aughton. It’s the lesser known of the two but it deserves plenty of attention in its own right. It was awarded a Michelin star in 2022, and has kept hold of it despite a change in head chef.
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Cumbria
The Forest Side
Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel The Forest Side, owned by Lakes hotelier Andrew Wildsmith, is built on the foundations of the cooking of former L’Enclume forager, Kevin Tickle.
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Cumbria
Heft
Awarded with a Michelin star in 2023, Heft is the brainchild of chef, Kevin Tickle and his wife, Nicola.
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Cumbria
Lake Road Kitchen
A wild-maned toddler of a restaurant, bound for great things, Lake Road Kitchen is an exciting place to eat. Now the holder of Michelin Star, it’s the baby of former Samling chef James Cross and is one of the leading lights in the Lakes foraging trend.
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Book Now Cumbria
L’Enclume
L’Enclume is Simon Rogan’s three Michelin-starred restaurant located in the Lake District village of Cartmel, which is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading dining destinations. The restaurant is situated in a former 13th-century blacksmith’s workshop.
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Manchester City Centre
Mana
Michelin-starred restaurant Mana is the brainchild of chef patron Simon Martin who mastered his trade at the renowned Noma in Copenhagen. At Mana, Martin has succeeded in carving his own path – one which confuses and delights people in equal measure.
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Aughton
Moor Hall
Mark Birchall, ex-head chef at L’Enclume, is chef-patron of Moor Hall, an outstanding, two Michelin star, five AA Rosette restaurant with rooms.
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Langho
Northcote
Northcote is where chef-patron Nigel Haworth earned his stripes as an instigator of contemporary British fine dining. Today, Michelin star chef and one of BBC2’s Great British Menu winners, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, heads up the kitchen.
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Cumbria
Old Stamp House
Head to Ambleside’s Old Stamp House for regional cooking in a heritage space by one of Cumbria’s most promising chefs.
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Rogan & Co.
Situated in an atmospheric 14th-century building beside the pretty River Eea in Cartmel, Rogan & Co is the home of Simon Rogan’s Michelin-starred neighbourhood restaurant.
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Cumbria
The Samling
The Samling is a delightful lodge and fine-dining restaurant oozing exclusivity. A favourite of Hollywood celebs (like Tom Cruise), it’s easy to see why this charming collection of restored farm cottages is thriving.
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Aughton
Solo Restaurant
Rocking up in the picturesque village of Aughton in West Lancashire, renowned chef Tim Allen (whose Flitch of Bacon bagged Essex’s only Michelin star in 25 years) loved the sandstone building and sunny terrace of the former Seafood Pub Company Wine Bar, and sō-lō was born.
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Cumbria
Source
Source (previously known as HRiSHi) is a Michelin Star restaurant located at The Gilpin Hotel near Windermere in the Lake District.
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Stockport
Where the Light Gets In
With no menu and esoteric wines, Where the Light Gets In doesn’t adhere to the typical fine-dining formula. But it’s been a success for Stockport, thanks to chef-patron Sam Buckley’s belief in doing things his own way.
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Burnley
The White Swan at Fence
Some folk in the village still refer to The White Swan at Fence as The Mucky Duck and you can still order a pint of Timothy Taylor’s at its very pubby bar. But over recent years The Swan has established itself as a destination fine-dining spot thanks to young chef Tom Parker from up the road in Burnley.