Midsummer House is a restaurant located in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England, on the bank of the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...

. It is a Victorian house that was transformed into a restaurant in 1986. It won its first

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

in 2002, and a second in 2005. The chef patron is Daniel Clifford.

Description

The restaurant is located in a townhouse built in 1886 on the bank of the

, on

Midsummer Common Midsummer Common is an area of common land in Cambridge, England. It lies northeast of the city centre on the south bank of the River Cam. The common borders the River Cam and houseboats are often moored on the common's bank. The boathouses ...

. The location of the restaurant has been a problem in the past. Twice in 2001, the river overflowed its banks and the restaurant was flooded. In February, the water made it into the wine cellars. In November, with over of water covering the foundations and causing extensive damage to the floor of the dining room, the decision was made to close the restaurant for a month and redecorate at the cost of £100,000, including ripping up the damaged floor and replacing it. Daniel Clifford took over as head chef in 1998. He became the chef patron of the restaurant in 1999.

Awards

Midsummer House won its first Michelin star in 2002. It was awarded a second in 2004, becoming one of eleven restaurants in the UK and Ireland to hold two stars; it was the only restaurant to be elevated to that level that year. It has been awarded five

AA Rosette The AA Rosette is an award recognizing culinary excellence in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Restaurants are rated from one to five rosettes. History It was established in 1956. In January the AA would publish its ''Guide to Hotels and Restaur ...

s, elevated to this status in the 2014 AA Awards. In the

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

Good Food Guide 2016 Midsummer House was awarded a cooking score of 8/10, and ranked at number 7 in the guide's top 50 UK restaurants. In 2014 Midsummer House was voted first place in the TripAdvisor "Travellers Choice Awards" within the UK, and second place in the world. On 5 October 2015, Daniel Clifford was awarded the "Chef's Chef of the Year" award at the 2015/16 AA awards. Daniel Clifford was praised for turning Midsummer House into one of the country's finest restaurants, while being an "inspiration to so many chefs at all levels"

References

{{Michelin stars in the UK 1986 establishments in England Restaurants in Cambridgeshire Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Cambridge Companies based in Cambridge