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 and for the first time this year the AA is announcing a new Five Rosette award in January.
The restaurant achieving this coveted five AA Rosette award is Gidleigh Park in Devon. Michael Wignall (pictured), one of the country’s most respected chefs, moved to Gidleigh Park in January 2016. He is well known for having a great respect for food and an ever evolving style which creates unique dishes full of flavour, underpinned by a contemporary, less formal approach to fine cuisine.
Alistair Sandall, Commercial Manager at AA Hotel Services said, ‘While the awarding of new five rosettes is usually included in our main Hospitality Awards in September we all felt that we could not delay this award until then. Michael Wignall has transferred his exquisite skills and style to Gidleigh Park and has made this undoubtedly worthy of this accolade.’
The restaurants awarded new four AA Rosettes are –
- Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond, Balloch
- Morston Hall, Blakeney, Norfolk
- Typing Room, London E2
The new three AA Rosettes restaurants are –
- AG’s Restaurant at Alexander House Hotel, Turners Hill, Crawley
- Anglo, London EC1
- Boringdon Hall Hotel (Gallery Restaurant), Plymouth
- Bovey Castle, Moretonhampstead
- Céleste at The Lanesborough, London SW1
- Crossbasket Castle, Blantyre
- Inver Restaurant, Strachur
- The Elderflower Restaurant, Lymington
- The Mount Somerset Hotel and Spa, Taunton
- The Olive Room, Ilfracombe
- The Square, London W1
- Tuddenham Mill, Newmarket
Restaurants awarded three AA Rosettes are all outstanding restaurants that achieve standards that demand national recognition well beyond their local area while those achieving four AA Rosettes are among the top restaurants in the country. To achieve five AA Rosettes, the restaurants are the pinnacle of the nation’s restaurants where the cooking compares with the best in the world and exhibit breath taking culinary skills and set the standards to which other aspire to and yet few achieve.