EIGHT IRISH RESTAURANTS are celebrating after being awarded a much-coveted Michelin Star for 2013.

Two restaurants, Galway’s Aniar and Dublin’s Locks Brasserie, found themselves on the list of restaurants in the Republic of Ireland for the first time that were chosen to be included in the Great Britain & Ireland 2013 Michelin guide.

The prestigious award is given to restaurants of extremely high quality, and is a mark of a top-class dining experience.

The full list of Irish restaurants is:

• Locks Brasserie, Dublin
• NEW Aniar, Galway
• House (at Cliff House Hotel), Ardmore
• Chapter One, Dublin
• L’Ecrivain, Dublin
• Thornton’s (at The Fitzwilliam Hotel), Dublin
• Bon Appétit, Malahide
• Patrick Guilbaud (two stars)

The Michelin Guide is an annual book that has been published since 1900 in France – initially it only covered that one country, but it soon expanded to other European countries and then moved on to include Asia and the USA.

The stars come in three different rankings, and they are chosen by anonymous judges; the restaurant owners don’t know if they have been selected until the guide is released.

Of the two new Irish selections, editor Rebecca Burr commented:

these two offer fairly simple surroundings and focus their attention where it really matters: on excellent quality food.

The Michelin Great Britain & Ireland 2013 guide will be available in bookshops from 5 October at a price of €18.99.

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