A Review of the AA 2013 Restaurant Awards
2013 New AA rosettes
And so with the passing of the Good Food Guide awards earlier this month, the AA awards dinner was next in line. In truth the AA rosettes have some what lost their shine over a number of years as the organisations has been rocked by various articles of negative publicity. There was the whole ‘Should Petrus (under Marcus Wareing) get 5 rosettes’ debacle in which the Guide’s editor resigned, then there was ‘Porngate’, and in recent times the blurring of the line between inspecting for a guide & selling consultation services.
It is this final point I’d like to aim squarely at the AA. There have been constant rumours concerning this blurring of the line between the roles of ‘inspectors’ & ‘consultants’. Figures of upto £5,000 have been mentioned for a central London hotel. So when the guide proclaims on Amazon:
Rosetted restaurants have been inspected and feature purely on merit with no charge for inclusion.
it starts to look decidedly shaky.
But what makes the AA restaurant guide even more laughable is the inspection regime. There are in the 2013 guide 1900 restaurants listed, and numerous chefs, owners & managers have spoken about how if they don’t pay for ‘consulting’ from the AA that they might only get inspected once every two years. Really makes the point of an annual guide null & void, doesn’t it?
So to the winners, I actually have had some of this part of the post written for best part of a week now, due to the AA actually releasing some of their new awards via an update for their restaurant app.
Five AA Rosettes:
Hibiscus, London
Four AA Rosettes:
The Pass Restaurant @ South Lodge Hotel, Lower Beeding
Casamia, Bristol
Pollen Street Social, London
Seven Park Place by William Drabble, London
Three AA Rosettes:
Orwells, Henley on Thames
Roger Hickman’s Restaurant, Norwich
Stoke Place, Stoke Poges
Rib Room @ Jumeirah Carlton Towers, London
Wolfgang Puck ‘Cut’ @ 45 Park Lane, London
Ellenborough Park, Cheltenham
Cringletie House, Peebles
Alyn Williams @ The Westbury, London
The Dining Room @ Hillbark, Frankby
Thirty Six by Nigel Mendham @ Dukes Hotel, London
One Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow
Gordon’s, Inverkelor
The Old Inn, Drewsteignton
The James Miller Room @ Turnberry
Hipping Hall, Kirby Lonsdale
Rocca Bar & Grill @ Macdonald Rusacks Hotel, St Andrews
Mount Juliet (Lady Helen restaurant), Co. Kilkenny, Eire
*The Longridge Restaurant, Longridge
Airds, Port Apin
Isle of Eriska, Scotland
Ynyshir Hall, Wales
Whilst it’s always good to see new blood being introduced into the top 10%, The Old Inn near Exeter was spotted by Jay Rayner last year and received an excellent review. Former Aiden Byrne protégé Stewart Warner has entered with 3 rosettes at The Hillbark, possibly at the cost of his mentor. Who appears to be waiting on inspections after re-naming & positioning his eponymous restaurant in leafy Cheshire, but won Restaurant of the year for England.
Entries that were widely expected, Alyn Williams, Nigel Mendham & Orwells, although Wolfgang Puck’s ‘Cut’ @ 45 Park Lane appears to be more of a political choice rather than an inspectors choice as it’s constantly panned by critics & bloggers alike.
New chefs at Ynyshir Hall & Isle of Eriska seem to be working their magic, gaining re-entries into the top 10%. Where as consistency is clearly the name of the game should you wish to climb higher.
Three out of the five new 4&5 rosettes are chef patrons and although Mr Drabble has only been at Seven Park Place for three years, he has recouped the four rosettes he held at the now departed Aubergine. Chef Matt Gillan has been gathering awards left, right & center for the unique restaurant called ‘The Pass’ since it’s opening 3 1/2 years ago. Initially gaining three rosettes after three months of opening, followed by a Michelin star, now he’s been elevated to four rosettes. Rumour is that there is an expansion planned at South Lodge to double the capacity of ‘The Pass’ to 40 covers, so getting a table should be a little bit easier.
Many of you may notice a strange inclusion in the three rosette category. Paul Heathcote’s former two Michelin starred & four rosette eatery in Longridge, closed in May after 22 years. Oh yes clearly the AA have their fingers right on the pulse of the modern restaurant scene.
Congratulations to all the award winners in the AA restaurant guide 2013
I reckon a decent libel lawyer would have a field day with your second paragraph. You might wanna consider amending it somewhat.
Happy ‘Bob’? Revised, but still makes the point.