AA reveals new three- and four-rosette restaurants

The Greenhouse in London's Mayfair was the only restaurant to win four rosettes in the AA's January 2014 Guide, as a further 15 were promoted to three.

 

The new accolade for the Greenhouse, which first opened its doors in 1977 with Brian Turner as head chef and is now part of Marlon Abela's MARC group, follows the award of two Michelin stars in September last year.

 

The awards come exactly two years since Arnaud Bignon joined the restaurant from the two Michelin-starred Spondi in Athens, in January 2012.

 

Those restaurants promoted to three rosettes, including some that were returning to three, having dropped back to two following the departure of a chef were:

 

The Black Swan hotel, Helmsley
Fallowfields hotel and restaurant, Kingston Bagpuize
Restaurant Tristan, Horsham
Restaurant Story, London SE1
The Grove Narberth
Bo London, London W1
The Lovat, Loch Ness
Ormer, St Helier, Jersey
Design House restaurant, Halifax
Hedone, London W4
HKK, London, EC2
Roux at Parliament Square, London SW1
The Black Swan, Oldstead
Lower Slaughter Manor, Lower Slaughter
Adam's Restaurant, Birmingham

 

Galvin at Windows in London's W1 regained its three rosettes after they were suspended following Andre Garrett's move to Cliveden, while the Burlington at Devonshire Arms in Bolton Abbey also had a rosette deleted after Stephen Smith left in February 2013 to go to the Bohemia on Jersey.

 

Meanwhile, the Bingham in Richmond upon Thames retained its three rosettes, despite the fact that Shay Cooper left to become executive chef of the Goring and was replaced by Mark Jarvis.

 

Commenting on the news of the latest three- and four-rosette restaurants, Simon Numphud, manager at AA Hotel Services said: "The Greenhouse has everything we look for in a four-rosette restaurant, namely a passion for excellence, superb technical skills and intense ambition as well as national recognition for its cooking.

 

"Restaurants serving food of a three-rosette standard are worthy of recognition from well beyond their local area. I am delighted that these restaurants hail from such far-reaching parts of the country, and is a great demonstration that wherever you are in Great Britain you can find excellent AA-rosetted restaurants."

 

Reaction from the restaurants:

 

We are tickled pink. It is a recognition not only of the chef [Matt Weedon] but also his kitchen team. Matt is nicely settled in and planning to use even more of the kitchen garden produce this year. January is a low point in most hotels and restaurants so something like this gives the whole place a really nice fillip and confidence that we are doing right.
Anthony Lloyd, owner, Fallowfields

 

Following the success of 2013 and the hard work and dedication of the team, Chef Tong, myself and the entire HKK team are delighted to be recognised by the AA guide with the prestigious 3rd Rosette in the 2014 guide.
Mark Hastings, general manager, HKK

 

We have had three rosettes for a couple of years, but one was withheld when Adam [Jackson, former head chef] left last summer and Tommy [Banks, former sous chef] took over. We are very pleased. We have more or less the same team in the kitchen, so we feel as though we are going from strength to strength.
Anne Banks, co-owner, the Black Swan at Oldstead

 

To have achieved three AA Rosettes with Ormer still in its infancy is fantastic and places the restaurant in an elite group. We are immensely proud of our achievements since opening in 2013 and credit goes to the entire Ormer team for striving for these high standards. Jersey has become a culinary destination due to an abundance of world-class produce and the hard work of our hospitality sector. Ormer has welcomed a number of guests who have flown into the Island specifically for dinner and this is a great compliment. We're going to continue to strive for excellence and we're grateful that the AA inspectors understood our vision for Ormer and enjoyed their experiences.
Shaun Rankin, chef proprietor of Ormer restaurant

 

We're delighted to have been awarded three AA Rosettes. The head chef, his dedicated kitchen team and front of house have worked so very hard over many years to achieve and maintain this standard and we are absolutely delighted for them all. We now look forward to 2014, with a wonderful team that we feel is capable of striving for a fourth AA Rosette for Wales.

 

Neil Kedward, owner of The Grove, Narberth