Two restaurants gain guide's top accolade

Paul Kitching's "playful way" with ingredients has earned his Juniper restaurant in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, one of the two Restaurant of the Year awards from the Good Food Guide, published this week.

The guide praises chef-proprietor Kitching for the use of ingredients such as roast saddle of Cumbrian hare with foie gras, watercress, yogurt and Horlicks powder.

"These could be a real dog's breakfast in less skilful hands," it comments.

Plas Bodegroes in Pwllheli, Gwynedd, also awarded Restaurant of the Year, is described as a "special place" by the guide. It comments that chef Chris Chown has a "straightforwardly confident menu" with dishes such as Hereford duck breast, and Welsh Black rib-eye beef with oxtail sauce.

The award goes to restaurants that have shown particular merit or achievement during the year. Although the guide's researchers looked in all geographical areas, it said that the two restaurants in Altrincham and Pwllheli were the only special achievers.

Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Royal Hospital Road, London, was the only restaurant to receive 10 out of 10 marks for cooking, while Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire; the Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire; and Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire, are all rated at nine.

Newcomers of the Year included the Eyre Brothers restaurant in London; La Cachette in Elland, West Yorkshire; and the Seafood restaurant in St Monans, Fife.

by Christina Golding