The new Michelin guide 'Tokyo Yokohama Kamakura 2011' edition is displayed with other guides (GETTY) The new Michelin guide 'Tokyo Yokohama Kamakura 2011' edition is displayed with other guides (GETTY)

Two new restaurants have been given two-star ratings in the 2012 Michelin Guide, and for the first time ever two stars were awarded to a gastro pub.

The new awards went to Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham and The Hand & Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

The Hand & Flowers joint owner Tom Kerridge recently won The Great British Menu – a TV competition where top chefs compete to win the chance to cook a four-course banquet for a high-profile figure.

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Kerridge told the UK’s Caterer and Hotelkeeper: "The fact that Michelin is awarding two stars to a pub means they are embracing British culture. My cooking may be French but we use British ingredients, we are a British pub and serve ales and we have fish and chips on the menu at lunchtime – the only two-Michelin-starred fish and chips in the world!”

Kerridge opened the Hand & Flowers in 2005 with his wife, Beth Kerridge, and in less than a year they were awarded one Michelin star.

The Restaurant Sat Bains, run by owner Sat Bains, is still the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Nottingham and was awarded a second star for its “original and creative” cooking.

There are only 17 restaurants in Great Britain and Ireland that have been awarded with the two-star accolade.