New three and four AA Rosettes announced for restaurants across the UK.
The AA has been awarding Rosettes to restaurants since 1956, with the top award of five rosettes being introduced in 1991. The multi rosettes are awarded bi-annually in January and September, with success being determined by one or more visits by an AA inspector to an hotel or restaurant.
Four AA Rosettes
Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms in Ormskirk, Lancashire has been awarded four AA Rosettes, only four months after achieving their third Rosette in September 2017. They are the only restaurant to be awarded this accolade in January’s set of honours. The show stopping cooking of Mark Birchall, whose time at Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume, means you will not be disappointed. Expect virtuoso creations built on ingredients that couldn’t be bettered.
Three AA Rosettes
Benedicts, Norwich, Norfolk is a switched-on operation where pared-back, Scandi-chic looks tick all the boxes of a big-city venue and make a suitably modernist setting for chef-patron Richard Bainbridge’s innovative contemporary cooking. Devotees of Great British Menu may remember that Bainbridge was the 2015 winner, so diners can be assured of exciting 21st-century food that’s brimful of revelations, courtesy of stimulating combinations of excellent materials.
The Burlington Restaurant, Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire is where chef Paul Leonard delivers food of craft and creativity, making good use of the estate’s excellent produce (dining during the game season is a good idea) and the kitchen garden for herbs, vegetables and fruits. His dishes are colourful, full of presentational artistry and precisely composed flavours.
Carters of Moseley, Birmingham, West Midlands is in an unassuming location but don’t let that distract you from the restaurant’s ambition. Chef Brad Carter’s operation sticks to the contemporary template of calculated neutral décor, the buzz of an open kitchen, and relaxed, on-the-ball staff whose enthusiasm for the food is palpable.
Jöro Restaurant, Sheffield, South Yorkshire is in a converted shipping container off a roundabout on the outskirts of Steel City. Despite the urban surrounds, the kitchen team maintains a close bond to nature, working with local farms and foragers to provide a steady flow of seasonal materials – a ‘surprise’ box from one vegetable supplier means the kitchen builds the menus around what turns up that week, and the small plate concept encourages diners to try a salvo of different dishes.
Mere, London. What really shines here is the cooking; contemporary French (classically underpinned, of course) yet sprinkled with touches from chef Monica Galetti’s Western Samoan and Kiwi heritage. The expected consummate skill and attention to detail are obvious, though it comes with a light, refined, yet relatively straightforward approach, backed by flavour and panache.
1851 Restaurant at Peckforton Castle, Peckforton, Cheshire has a slick and stylish dining room which matches the modern thinking in the kitchen. Chef Jason Hodnett has a knack for coaxing out the max from flavours.
Samuel’s at Swinton Park, Masham, North Yorkshire is where Chef Mehdi Amiri celebrates the produce from Swinton’s four acres of walled kitchen garden and the local area. Ingredients are of the first order and the kitchen’s technical skill is apparent in main courses.
Whatley Manor Hotel and Spa, Malmesbury, Wiltshire. The kitchen is headed up by Niall Keating, and his blend of refined contemporary cooking with Asian influences has created a new dining experience. Delivered via a 12-course tasting menu, (including a vegetarian version) phenomenal precision and flavours are there from the off.
An extract from the AA Press Release for January 2018 Rosettes.
Image © Samuel’s Restaurant at Swinton Park.
