The average price of dinner for one at establishments listed in this guide is £64.14 (cf £59.28 two years previously). Prices have risen by an annualised rate of 4.0% in the past two years. This rate remains above the general annual inflation rate of 3.2% for the 12 months to August 2021. The rise is most marked amongst pricey restaurants (over £100 per head). In this group, the annualised growth is a significant 8.8%. There has also been a marked change in restaurants for which the guide’s formula price is over £200 per head.
Whereas in the 2020 edition, only one restaurant (The Araki) had a formula price above £200 per head, in the 2022 edition, there are seven: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester; The Araki; Endo at Rotunda; Ikoyi; Kitchen Table; Mãos; and Sketch (Lecture Room). And the number of restaurants with a formula price over £150 per head has risen from nine to 24. This formula price assumes a bottle of house wine spread between two, and thus represents the minimum one could sensibly spend in a luxury restaurant. After new Modern British (66) openings, Japanese cuisine was the most popular for newcomers this edition, accounting for 23 of the debuts (just beating Italian cuisine which was the designation for 22).
Having been a rarity in early editions of the guide, the guide suggests that Japanese dishes are becoming fully integrated into UK food culture. The introduction further suggests that African and Afro-Caribbean cuisine as a category is breaking through into the luxury restaurant sector for the first time. Peter Harden comments: “For decades, African or Caribbean restaurants have flown under the radar as far as the general foodie press was concerned.
