'I thought we were forgotten': The Ritz Restaurant has been awarded a second Michelin Star

The Ritz Restaurant has been awarded a second Michelin Star in the 2025 Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland.

‘I have waited 50 years for this moment. It is so special — The Ritz is a special place. I thought we were forgotten,’ says the executive chef, John Williams, who won his — and the hotel’s first star — in 2017.

Williams, the son of a Tyneside fisherman, has overseen proceedings at The Ritz since 2004. His kitchen was one of three new Two Michelin Star recipients.

Elsewhere in London, there were ten new One Michelin Stars awarded to restaurants such as Hellenic-inspired Oma in Borough Market and Cornus in Belgravia, and 11 new bibs (most notably to Morchella in Clerkenwell and The Hero - Maida Vale (above)).

Writing about Oma inside the 4 September, 2025, issue of Country Life, restaurant reviewer Emma Hughes commented that the ‘plaster walls feel more warehouse party in Berlin than Leonard Cohen serenading Marianne on Hydra, [but] there’s nothing intimidatingly hip about Oma. Its approach is encapsulated by the sharpener you’re offered when you sit down.’

And further afield, Wilsons in Bristol (above) — whose menu is entirely informed by what is grown and available in their own market garden — Ballyfin in Co Laois, Ireland, and Lyla in Edinburgh all had reason to celebrate.

Plates on London’s Old Street broke new ground by becoming the UK’s first Michelin-starred vegan restaurant — though chef-founder Kirk Haworth has said that he is trying to ‘get rid of the word “vegan”... It’s all about flavour excitement and innovation.’

The only man more jubilant than Williams right now is chef Mark Birchall whose restaurant Moor Hall (above) was the sole recipient of a third star. City Social and Kai less so — they both lost stars.

It’s been a busy year for the Michelin team: the guide itself is celebrating its 125th birthday and in October, last year, announced that it was going to start awarding stars to hotels, as well as restaurants.

Visit the Michelin website to view the entire updated list of One, Two and Three Star restaurants.