DORCHESTER’S Sienna restaurant is celebrating today after retaining its Michelin Star.

It is the fifth year running that the High West Street venue has attained the coveted status and it remains the only Michelin Starred restaurant in Dorset.

Chef Russell Brown said he was delighted and relieved when it was announced this morning that Sienna had retained its star for another year.

He said: “We are pretty chuffed.

“We are still the only one in Dorset and we have retained it since 2010 so that’s five years.”

Russell said it was always an anxious time waiting to see if he had retained the Michelin status but he enjoyed rising to the challenge of keeping high standards up year on year.

He said: “That’s one of the beauties of it because it’s about maintaining standards and continuing to push to try and keep it.

“It certainly focuses your mind.”

Russell said he believed the accolade was not just good for Dorchester but for the county as a whole as it brought visitors from far and wide, including many who take on a tour of the Michelin Star venues in the South West.

He said: “I think it’s good for the county because we do get a reasonable amount of tourism as a result of it.”

Asked whether he ever envisaged picked up a second star, Russell replied: “We are happy to keep retaining it I think.

“I would never say never but I think it’s unlikely – one probably pitches us at the right level in terms of what we can do and the size that we are.”