Hélène Darroze at the Connaught and Core by Clare Smyth awarded three Michelin stars

Hélène Darroze at the Connaught and Core by Clare Smyth in London have been awarded three Michelin stars during a virtual ceremony recognising the winners in the 2021 guide for Great Britain and Ireland.

The event also saw three London restaurants upgraded to two stars – A Wong in Victoria, Da Terra in Bethnal Green and Restaurant Story in Southwark – while 17 restaurants received one star, including Tom Brown's Cornerstone in London's Hackney, Merlin Labron-Johnson's Osip in Bruton, Somerset, and Hide and Fox in Saltwood, Kent.

On being awarded a third star, chef Clare Smyth said: "We worked hard every day to be the best that we can. We try to be better every day than the last. Obviously it's my dream to reach this level but you could never imagine it would happen. It's incredible."

She added: "There's nothing that is unachievable now. Core opened just over three years ago. I just want for the future that young chefs – male or female – have the opportunity to open their own restaurants."

Andrew Wong of A Wong in London, the first Chinese restaurant in the UK to achieve two stars, said: "It's massively humbling. Today is a historic day for Chinese communities. It's not just for my team, it's for every Chinese restaurant that has laid the ground for us."

Today is a historic day for Chinese communities. It's not just for my team, it's for every Chinese restaurant that has laid the ground for us

Tom Sellers of Restaurant Story in London, which also won two stars, said: "It's great teamwork from the guys. It's been a lifetime's work so to be recognised and sit amongst other great chefs feels amazing."

Michelin announced 16 new Bib Gourmands and, a first for this year, 23 green stars were awarded to restaurants that have "really stepped up in their commitment to sustainable gastronomy".

Awards also included the Service Award, which went to Saul McConnell of Noble in Holywood, County Down; the Sommelier Award to Karine Canevet of Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; the Young Chef Award recognised Kray Treadwell of 670 Grams in Birmingham; and the Mentor Chef Award was handed to Ross Lewis of Chapter One in Dublin.

The awards follow an unprecedented year that has seen restaurants across the UK forced to close multiple times due to Covid restrictions. The annual star announcement was set for a "rock star" makeover in 2020, with 500 members of the public able to attend the event for the first time, joining 400 invited chefs and industry VIPs for a two-day event at the Camden Roundhouse in London. However, these plans were put on ice and the publication of the guide delayed due to coronavirus restrictions. It will also be the first time the guide is only published digitally.

Michelin claimed it started work on the 2021 guide in August 2019, meaning many of its inspections had been completed by the time restaurants were forced to close in lockdowns in March.

New Michelin stars:

Three stars

• Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, London
• Core by Clare Smyth, London

Two stars

• A Wong, London
• Da Terra, London
• Restaurant Story, London

One star

• Osip, Bruton, Somerset
• Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall, North Yorkshire
• Dede, Baltimore, Cork
• Muse, Belgravia, London
• Latymer, Bagshot, Surrey
• Hide and Fox, Saltwood, Kent
• Behind, London
• Cail Bruich, Glasgow
• Roots, York
• Restaurant Hjem, Hexham, Northumberland
• Cornerstone, Hackney, London
• Davies and Brook, London
• Outlaw's New Road, Port Isaac, Cornwall
• Benares, London
• Casa Fofo, London
• Pea Porridge, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
• Sola, Soho, London

Green stars

• The Black Swan at Oldstead, York
• Angela's, Margate, Kent
• Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, New Milton, Oxfordshire
• Coombeshead Farm, Lewannick, Cornwall
• Daylesford Organic Farm, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
• Inis Meáin, Aran Islands
• Inver, Strachur, Argyll and Bute
• Kai, Galway
• L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
• Loam, Galway
• New Yard, Helston, Cornwall
• Oxo Tower Brasserie, Southwark, London
• Henry Robertson at Palé Hall, Llandderfel, Gwynedd
• Petersham Nurseries Café, Richmond, London
• Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
• River Cottage Kitchen, Axminster, Devon
• Silo, Hackney, London
• The Dining Room at Whatley Manor, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
• The Small Holding, Kilndown, Kent
• Where the Light Gets In, Stockport
• The Ethicurean, Wrington, Bristol
• Hypha, Chester
• Tredwells, Strand and Covent Garden, London