“There has been on this restaurant an expectation to get a Michelin star for years and it comes from a really lovely place with guests and saying it’s worth one, which is a shorthand for expressing enjoyment in what you’ve done. For a few years it really bent me out of shape when we didn’t get over the line with it but now, I’ve genuinely made peace with myself because I’m doing something I believe in.”
These are the words of Alex Claridge three years ago when he spoke to Restaurant about his Birmingham restaurant The Wilderness and addressed the elephant in the room of why his progressive fine dining restaurant in the city’s Jewellery Quarter had never quite captured the imagination of Michelin’s inspectors. After seven years of pushing for a star Claridge said he had finally come to terms with the fact that he and Michelin might never see eye to eye, although he did admit that winning one would still be “dead nice”.
Fast forward to today and the red plaque denoting a one-star restaurant now hangs on the wall of The Wilderness after the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star last month. With the restaurant also celebrating its 10th birthday this year, presents don’t come much better than that.
“The awards were fever dream stuff really,” says Claridge, reflecting on the ceremony. “It’s been such an extended period of time. We’ve been through so many different emotional phases - when you think you’re in contention, when you’re expecting it, when you’re hoping for it. Post the cliff edge when you’ve kind of totally removed it from your mind is very odd.”
While it would be foolish to suggest that Claridge’s journey with The Wilderness had been leading up to this point, it’s still a significant milestone for a chef many believed had been operating a restaurant at star level for some time now. With its dark and moody punk rocker style interior and creative and sometimes provocative dishes, The Wilderness is very much not in the traditional French fine dining model, but it has a gastronomic foundation that makes it a genuine big hitter in the UK’s fine dining firmament.
Ignoring 99% of external noise is not a bad thing, and it collided with a change in our relationship with Michelin and them understanding what we are trying to do
When it was announced that it had finally won a star, I sent an email of congratulations to Claridge and his partner Rachael with the heading ‘About bloody time’. It turns out I was one of many people that did the same.
A change in attitude
So, what changed? Rather than it merely being his time, Claridge is lucid on why The Wilderness was finally judged to be star worthy, and attributes it to two factors - his return to the kitchen on a more permanent basis and a fundamental change in attitude.
In May last year The Wilderness’ executive chef moved on and, rather than replacing him, Claridge decided to go back into the kitchen full time. For the past year if the restaurant was open, he’s been there, alongside head chef Ediz Engin. “Physically I’m broken and I’ve aged horribly. Someone this pretty shouldn’t have to work so hard,” he jokes.
“From my perspective it’s a team win, and I’ve worked hard to create the conditions in which [the star] came into existence and to get the right combination of the right people at the right time.
“I know zen might not be a word historically associated with me but it’s quite a zen thing. In the final quarter of last year, me, my head chef and my sous were the only three people consistently in the kitchen, we were in every service together and very much locked in. Not on trying to win a star but to be the best version of what we can do. We were more driven by an emotional response to the 10-year anniversary really, which is a big milestone in restaurant terms.
When I stepped back in last spring, truthfully, we absolutely weren’t sure if we wanted to carry on past 10 years
This approach didn’t come without some serious soul searching, however, and Claridge admits that the 10-year anniversary was almost a neat end point. “Rachael and I were contemplating closing [The Wilderness] and opening a French bistro,” he says.
“Because that’s the kind of food we eat on our days off, and because fine dining takes such a toll emotionally, physically, financially. When I stepped back in last spring, truthfully, we absolutely weren’t sure if we wanted to carry on past 10 years.”
Claridge and Engin sat down and started planning what the food was going to be for the second part of the year, including a shift in attitude towards what they wanted to cook.
“I said I’d be more hands on, do it for six months and see what happens,” he continues. “We did it in a way where we didn’t try. That’s quite a neat phrase - stop trying.”
That’s not to say a huge amount of effort wasn’t expended in the kitchen, but Claridge quit posting on social media, and quit paying attention to anything outside of The Wilderness’ four walls.
“I quit trying to impress anyone and just focus on what’s good and what we want to eat. I stopped cooking for an audience. Ignoring 99% of external noise is not a bad thing, and it collided with a change in our relationship with Michelin and them understanding what we are trying to do.
“Michelin moves with the times. It just so happened that they’ve moved in one direction and we’ve moved in another, and those two things have married beautifully. Maybe that has not always been the case.”
The star effect
Winning a star in 2026 is significant for several reasons. Not only does Claridge say it will give him further confidence in his convictions and “that maybe what I’ve been chasing for a decade was not totally insane”, but he recognises that the timing couldn’t be more fortuitous. In hindsight, the decade-long wait could well work in his favour.
“I’m quite content with the way it played out,” he muses. “On a wholly prosaic level, if there was ever a time for restaurants to have something to talk about or something to drive interest in their restaurant, because the industry has largely been reduced to a bin fire, then this is it.
I’ll keep going as long as we have something interesting and relevant to say
“Winning a star will not be enough alone to adjust the fact that we are operating in atrocious times, but four years ago when people had more money to spend, the market was more buoyant and you could afford to order root vegetables without having to take out a mortgage, would it have been as mission critical from a business perspective? Probably not. It’s a good year for it.”
He acknowledges that being awarded a star a week before Valentine’s Day will also help. “It’s a recipe for a very good old fashioned beasting. We have a busy few weeks ahead of us.”
Moving forwards
The change in focus and the resulting star means that all thoughts of putting out red check tablecloths and steak frites on the menu have been forgotten for the time being. Claridge says that even before the Michelin awards, he had enjoyed the second part of 2025 enough to want to carry on for at least another year, and the star has no doubt cemented this position. “I’ll keep going as long as we have something interesting and relevant to say,” he says.
Not only has the star reassured him that his internal culinary compass is pointing in the right direction, but it has also given him the confidence to believe he can push for greater things at his other, and arguably more ambitious, restaurant Albatross Death Cult (ADC).
Opened in June 2024, ADC is an experimental, 14-cover counter restaurant that Claridge describes as a ‘raw, unedited, and decidedly stripped-back sibling’ to The Wilderness. The restaurant is tasting menu only, serving 10 courses for £100 a person.
“Albatross is the place we had pegged as much more of a Michelin contender,” admits Claridge. “It has continued to defy expectations.”
The star effect at The Wilderness has translated to ADC, with interest in the restaurant jumping after the announcement. It has led Claridge to believe that his dreams of winning a star there too are not without foundation.
If there was ever a time for restaurants to have something to talk about or something to drive interest in their restaurant, then this is it
“We know where we want Albatross to go and are committed to pursuing it and ignoring the voices trying to derail it,” he says, adding that he intends to spread his time more evenly between the two restaurants in pursuit of this goal.
“It needs a year or two more refinement to chase down the best expression of what we want it to be, but I’d be lying if I said that we wouldn’t like it to get its flowers as well as The Wilderness. Hopefully quicker than 10 years, as well.”
One final question remains: does winning the star feel as good as he imagined it would be? Now the 10-year itch has been scratched, has it lived up to its expectations?
“I don’t know what I thought it would feel like,” says Claridge after a long pause. “It sits in a really unusual way. Does it fundamentally alter the very fibre of my being? No. Does it feel good? Yes. In fact, it probably feels ‘dead nice’.
