City eateries continue to set high standards despite pandemic.
Four restaurants in Birmingham city centre have won entries in the prestigious Michelin Guide 2021 for the UK and Ireland.
The guide, which recognises quality cooking, includes three venues in the Westside entertainment district. They are Craft Dining and its separate 8 restaurant (pictured) , which occupy the same building at the International Convention Centre, and Pulperia, located in Brindleyplace.
Michelin inspectors, who carried out their visits against the backdrop of coronavirus restrictions, also selected the 670 Grams restaurant in Deritend. Inclusion in the Michelin Guide is seen as one step away from a restaurant receiving a coveted Michelin star.
A spokesperson for Craft said they were delighted to be in the annual guide. He said: “Following the most challenging year to face this sector, we are delighted to be listed within the 2021 Michelin Guide alongside our sister restaurant 8.
2Given we only managed to trade for 174 days at Craft and 20 days at 8, we are pleased the inspectors managed to visit both of us. This leaves us with next year’s guide and the continued attempts to progress and ensure our guests have the best experience possible.”
Pulperia steak restaurant is owned by award-winning chef director Aktar Islam. Mr Islam, who was awarded a Michelin star in October 2019 for his Opheem Indian restaurant, said: “We opened just two weeks before lockdown and had only three months of actual trade under social distancing and other restrictions. Therefore, for Pulperia to be included in the guide given the circumstances is a fantastic achievement.”
He added: “There are only a handful of Birmingham restaurants in the Michelin Guide and we are the only beef restaurant in the city ever to be listed. That is testament to the fact that Michelin recognised we are very much an ingredient-led restaurant.
“Even though we are still in lockdown, we have great ambitions for Pulperia, such as to continue sourcing more and more interesting breeds of beef and pork from around the world that we can provide to our customers. We can’t wait to get back to delivering our unique experience to them.”
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “To have three out of four of the restaurants newly listed in the Michelin Guide to be based in Westside is a reflection of the great venues we have across our district.”