All professions have their own delusions of grandeur — in journalism an inflated ego is more of a qualification than any degree — but food is a funny old game. There’s “restaurant famous” (people at industry parties are scared to talk to you) and “actually famous” (someone in Slough has heard of you).
Which is to say, there are only a handful of truly well-known restaurants across the UK, if we take Pizza Express and the like out of the game. Who’d get in? Perhaps Le Gavroche; the Ivy; the Waterside Inn; the Fat Duck; “that place in Padstein” (a smug, knowing wink may come with this mention); “what’s the fancy Ramsay one?”. Probably Gleneagles, definitely The Ritz. Old timers, basically — though L’Enclume might just slip in too. I think you’re getting the point.
