St Barts, close by Smithfield Market, has become the only London restaurant to win a Green star at this year's Michelin awards. The Green star is an acknowledgment of restaurants making particular efforts with sustainability.
From working with local, low-carbon producers or removing plastic from supply chains, there are a lot of restaurants in London and beyond that are reducing their carbon footprint. The Green star is a hard award to win, and only six restaurants in London picked up the honour this year.
What is a Michelin Green star?
The Green star was a new initiative for 2021, and the accolade recognises restaurants that not only consider their own impacts on the environment but, in the words of the Guide, “also address issues related to ethics and wellbeing, as well as contributing to local, national or global charitable and educational projects."
In the inaugural Green star awards, four London restaurants received a gong: Petersham Nurseries Café in Richmond; OXO Tower Brasserie in Southwark; Silo in Hackney; and the now-closed Tredwells in Covent Garden. Tredwells head chef Chantelle Nicholson later opened Apricity in Mayfair, which picked up a Green star last year.
All of these restaurants, excluding Tredwells (which closed in 2021), kept their Green star this year.
As always with Michelin, the specific boxes that need ticking to win a Green star aren’t made public, and while inspectors will consider everything from the provenance of ingredients to a restaurants' waste disposal methods, they are “looking for those at the top of their game when it comes to their sustainable practises."
With fewer than 50 entries in the Green list in the UK, the award is a very exclusive club.
London's Green Michelin Stars
- NEW St Barts, Spitalfields
- Apricity, Mayfair
- Oxo Tower Brasserie, Southwark, London
- Petersham Nurseries Café, Richmond, London
- Silo, Hackney, London
The UK's Green Michelin Stars
- NEW Annwn, Narberth
- NEW Exmoor Forest Inn, Minehead
- NEW The Forge, Chester
- NEW Interlude, Horsham
- NEW The Whitebrook Inn , Monmouth
- CULTURE, Falmouth
- Crocadon, Saltash
- Osip, Bruton
- Chapters, Hay-on-Wye
- Marle, Heckfield
- Moor Hall, Aughton
- Oak, Bath
- Pensons, Tenbury Wells
- Pine, East Wallhouses
- Terroir Tapas, Bournemouth
- Tillingham, Peasmarsh
- Wilsons, Bristol
- Angela's, Margate
- Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Great Milton
- Black Swan, Oldstead
- Coombeshead Farm, Lewannick
- Daylesford Organic Farm, Daylesford
- Hypha, Chester
- L'Enclume, Cartmel
- New Yard, Trelowarren
- Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
- River Cottage Kitchen, Axminster
- The Dining Room, Whatley Manor, Malmesbury
- The Ethicurean, Wrington
- The Small Holding, Kilndown
- Where the Light Gets In, Stockport
- Inver, Strachur
