Document includes listing of 93  restaurants have recived BIB Gourmand lebel.

Prahlad Jani, a holy man, or fakir, who is over 70 years old, has just spent 10 days under constant observation in Sterling Hospital, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

During that time, he did not consume anything and “neither did he pass urine or stool”, according to the hospital’s deputy superintendent, Dr Dinesh Desai.

Yet he is in fine mental and physical fettle, say doctors.

Most people can live without food for several weeks, with the body drawing on its fat and protein stores. But the average human can survive for only three to four days without water.

Followers of Indian holy men and ascetics have often ascribed extraordinary powers to them, but such powers are seldom subject to scientific inspection.

Mr Prahlad Jani under surveillance in hospital

Mouthwash

“A series of tests conducted on him show his body mechanism is that of a normal person,” said Dr Desai.

Mr Jani spends most of his time in a cave near the Ambaji temple in Gujarat state.

He spent his 10 days in hospital in a specially prepared room, with a sealed-off toilet and constant video surveillance.

To help the doctors verify his claims, Mr Jani agreed to avoid bathing for his time in hospital.

The only fluid he was allowed was a small amount of water, to use as mouthwash.

One hundred millilitres of water were given to him, and then collected and measured in a beaker when he spat it out, to make sure none had been drunk.

Thank goddess

A statement from Ahmedabad’s Association of Physicians says that despite no water entering his body, urine nonetheless appeared to form in his bladder – only to be re-absorbed by the bladder walls.

At the end of his confinement, doctors noted no deterioration in his condition, other than a slight drop in his weight.

“I feel no need for food and water,” says Mr Jani, who claims he was blessed by a goddess at the age of eight and has lived in caves ever since.

He grew up in Charod village in Mehsana district and wears the dress of a devotee of the goddess Ambaji – a red sari-like garment, nose ring, bangles and crimson flowers in the hair.

He also wears the vermilion “tika” mark on his forehead, more often seen on married Hindu women.

His followers call him “mataji” or goddess.

More tests

He says he has survived several decades without food or water because of a hole in his palate.

Drops of water filter through this hole, he says, sustaining him.

“He has never fallen ill and can continue to live like this,” said Bhiku Prajapati, one of Mr Jani’s many followers.

“A hole in the palate is an abnormal phenomenon,” says Dr Desai.

His colleague, Dr Urman Dhruv, told the BBC a full medical report is being prepared on Mr Jani’s 10 days under observation.

Doctors say they cannot verify his claim to have not eaten or drunk for decades – but by observing his feat under laboratory conditions, they hope to learn more about the human body.

It is likely that doctors will want to examine Mr Jani again in order to solve the medical mystery he has presented them with.

Photo and article from BBC News

It is the first time since 2004 that Michelin has handed three new stars to a UK restaurant and brings the total of restaurants holding three stars to four including Gordon Ramsay’s flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road in London, Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck and the Roux’s Waterside Inn, both in Bray, Buckinghamshire.

The Ledbury in London is the only restaurant in this year’s Michelin guide to have been raised to two-star-status, while 18 establishments have been awarded their first star.

This brings the total of Michelin-starred restaurants in Great Britain and Ireland to 140, the highest number in the guide’s 36-year history.

Among the new one-star restaurants is the Harwood Arms pub in London, which sees Ledbury head chef and Harwood Arms owner Brett Graham as the big winner in this year’s guide being awarded a total of three stars at his two restaurants.

The pub opened in October 2008 as a joint venture between Graham, rural celebrity chef Mike Robinson, and publican Edwin Vaux, with young chef Stephen Williams taking up the day-to-day role in the kitchen.

Other restaurants celebrating their first Michelin star are: Galvin at Windows, Apsleys A Heinz Beck Restaurant at the Lanesborough, and Texture, all in London, as well as the Samling in Ambleside, Cumbria, The Goose in Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire, and Paul Kitching’s 21212 in Edinburgh.

Fifteen restaurants have lost their stars in the 2010 Michelin guide for Great Britain and Ireland, with the most high profile loss being Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s in London. The Capital in London and the Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire have both been demoted from their respective two-Michelin-star status, following the departure of their respective head chefs Eric Chavot and John Campbell last summer.

Michelin has identified four restaurants as rising stars including Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor in Cheshire, who has been tipped as a future two-star establishment.

The Marquis in Alkham, Kent, the Black Swan at Oldstead, North Yorkshire, and Rosel and Co in Padstow, Cornwall, have named as rising one stars.

The 2010 Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland has named 28 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands, a move reflecting a continued trend within the UK dining market towards competitive pricing.

The Bib Gourmand status is awarded to a restaurant offering “good food at moderate prices” at £28 or less for three courses (€40 in Ireland). The 28 new Bib Gourmands bring the total to 31.

New three star restaurants:

London
Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Mayfair

New two star restaurants:

London
The Ledbury, Kesington

New one star restaurants:

London
The Harwood Arms – Fulham
Bingham Restaurant (at Bingham Hotel) – Richmond-upon-Thames
Apsleys (at the Lanesborough Hotel) – Belgravia
Galvin at Windows (at London Hilton Hotel) – Mayfair
Tamarind – Mayfair
Texture – Regents Park

England
The Samling – Ambleside, Cumbria
The Pipe Glass & Inn – Beverley/ South Dalton, East Riding of Yorkshire
The Royal Oak – Bray-On-Thames, Windsor & Maidenhead
The Goose – Britwell Salone, Oxfordshire
Sienna – Dorchester, Dorset

Scotland
21212 – Edinburgh
The Peat Inn – Peat Inn, Fife
Kinloch Lodge – Sky (Isle Of)/Sleat

Wales
The Walnut Tree – Abergavenny/Llanddewi Skirrid, Monmouthshire
Tyddyn Llan – Llandrillo, Denbighshire
Ynyshir hall – Machynlleth, Powys

Republic of Ireland
The House (at Cliff House Hotel) – Ardmore, Waterford

Rising two stars:
Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor – Chester, Cheshire

Rising one stars:
The Marquis – Alkham, Kent
The Black Swan, Oldstead
Rosel & Co. – Padstow/St Merryn, Cornwall

Deletions:

London
The Capital – Kensington & Chelsea, Chelsea
Aubergine – Kensington & Chelsea, Chelsea
Ambassade de L’Ille – South Kensington
Assaggi – City of Westminster, Bayswater & Maida Vale
Foliage (at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel) – Hyde Park & Knightsbridge
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s – Mayfair
Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House – Soho

England
The Vineyard at Stockcross – Newbury, Berkshire
Bath Priory – Bath, Bath & North East Somerset
Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge – Brockenhurst, Hampshire
Christophe – Channel Islands, Guernsey/Fermain Bay
Nathan Outlaw – Fowey, Cornwall
Seaham Hall – Seaham, Durham

Scotland
Ballachulish House – Ballachulish, Highland

Republic of Ireland
Mint – Dublin, Ranelagh

By Kerstin Kühn

Michelin stars released by the new Michelin Guide – 15/01/2010 – Caterer Search.