Black Swan, Five Fields and Manchester House win four AA rosettes
A trio of restaurants has been awarded four AA rosettes, as a further 11 picked up three rosettes.
The Black Swan at Oldstead in Yorkshire, the Five Fields in London, and Manchester House bar and restaurant in Manchester all won four rosettes.
Among the three-rosette winners were:
A Wong, London SW1
Avista, London W1
Cambium, Careys Manor, Brockenhurst, Hampshire
The Dial House, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire
The Gannet, Glasgow
The Hare Inn, Scawton, Yorkshire
Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside, Cumbria
Lumie᷅re, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Orrery, London W1
Portland, London W1W
Tassili, Grand Jersey, St Helier, Jersey
The AA announces the winners of its three, four and five rosette awards twice a year, in January and September.
Reacting to the news that his restaurant was one of those to win four AA rosettes, Aiden Byrne, chef patron of Living Ventures-owned Manchester House, said: "It is something that me and the team have been working towards since we took on Manchester House, which has probably been the biggest project of my career to date. Obviously with the focus on it, there was a certain amount of pressure to deliver a product and thankfully the AA guys have recognised that and we are extremely proud of it."
"We are believers in the fact that if you are continuously trying to improve on a daily basis then all these accolades will come eventually. It will lift the spirits of the guys because we have been closed for two weeks over the Christmas break and next year it will definitely start the year on a high and start a successful year ahead of us."
The Black Swan at Oldstead, which sits on the North York Moors and is run by the Banks family, with chef Tom Banks in the kitchen and his brother James running front of house, is no stranger to awards from the AA, having won the AA Pub of the Year in England in 2010 at the AA Hospitality Awards.
Meanwhile, the Five Fields, run by chef-patron Taylor Bonnyman alongside head chef Marguerite Keogh is known for its intelligent and sometimes playful contemporary food that is based on outstanding ingredients, some grown in the restaurant's own kitchen garden in East Sussex.
Simon Numphud, the outgoing head of AA Hotel Services said: "The restaurants receiving the multi rosette awards should be duly proud of their achievements. The four rosettes restaurants can now classify themselves as among the top restaurants in the country where cooking demands national recognition.
"Those with three rosettes are outstanding restaurants that demand recognition well beyond their local area offering sympathetic treatment of the highest quality ingredients with consistent timing, seasoning and judgement of flavour. Around just 10% of the restaurants in our guide have three rosettes."
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