Marco Pierre White did a flit from Wandsworth via Chelsea Harbour to Knightsbridge

Marco Pierre White did a flit from Wandsworth (via Chelsea Harbour) to Knightsbridge, and three stars were his.In two- or three-star restaurants you see a remarkably similar presentation of food. At the start of the meal there are amuse-gueules: not Franglais for making girls laugh but food for the myopic. If you have not come across one of these they are meal miniatures designed to show off the skill of the chef. Blink and you’d miss them, but they are usually followed by little espresso cups filled with frothy soup which the fashion-conscious chef will call a cappuccino of something or other.

Your conversation must be interrupted so that the waiter can tell you, in excruciating detail, what is in them. And this is all pre the starter, pre the main course and pre the pre-dessert.The guides love all this, but there is an independent band of chefs who believe it comes at the expense of good, honest cooking. “There is no doubt that it stifles creativity in food,” says another un-starred chef, known for sourcing great ingredients and for his mastery of provincial cooking. He adds that starred restaurants do not address issues of increasing importance to customers. “Michelin-starred food has a tendency to be unseasonal, and little regard is paid to provenance.”Michelin has always denied that it consults with chefs about what it takes to become a three-star chef The guide criticises by omission, it is always said. And it is true that the moment the three-star chef dreads most is opening the latest edition to discover that one of the little asterisks has evaporated.

The guides say that if there is a standardisation of starred restaurants it is the copycat behaviour of the chefs that is to blame. Ergo Gordon Ramsay took a leaf out of the book of Marco and Nico, who had observed Albert Roux’s style.But in the past two years Michelin has acknowledged that the French style of fine dining is seen as out of touch in Britain. It has now awarded stars to the River Caf?and to a few ethnic restaurants and pubs. But even the Asian restaurants, the last bastion of independent strength in the British restaurant scene, stick to criteria alien to their usual custom in order to please the inspectors. Zaika, an Indian restaurant awarded a star in 2001, “plates” the food rather than serve it in the typical communal way from small dishes in the centre of the table. The guides continue to wield their influence.I do not wish to appear ungrateful to the Michelin Guide in Britain. It has undoubtedly pushed up the standard of cooking here since it arrived.