It’s not just in the UK that Michelin seems to be being pretty conservative with new 3-star awards. The only new restaurant to be awarded the ultimate culinary accolade in the new Guide Rouge 2008 is Le Petit Nice, a small Mediterranean-side hotel noted for its use of under-recognised fish species. It is the first restaurant in Marseilles – a city less notable for its gastronomy than might be imagined – to boast the award.

Nationally, the total number of restaurants in France’s top rank remains unchanged, as Paris’s Grand Véfour manages to lose a third star for the second time in less than a decade. As Lady Bracknell might have observed, to lose a third star once is a misfortune…