AA announces new College Restaurant of the Year Award
The AA is to add a new category to its AA Hospitality Awards for 2016 - the AA College Restaurant of the Year Award.
The award has been developed in conjunction with sponsor People 1st to recognise accredited colleges within the AA College Rosette Scheme that have shown outstanding achievements in a realistic working environment.
Following applications from colleges, judging will be held in London, where industry experts will put candidates through a series of practical tasks in order to shortlist three finalists.
The winner will be announced at the AA Hospitality Awards on 26 September at Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel, in London.
The AA College Rosette Scheme was designed to recognise the efforts of students, both front and back of house, who are the future of the hospitality industry. The college accreditation process provided by People 1st recognises colleges offering exceptional hospitality training and those that perform above and beyond in a specialist field as centres of excellence.
Garry Baldwin, senior hotel and restaurant inspector, AA Hotel Services, said: "We are delighted to announce the AA College Restaurant of the Year award, sponsored by People 1st. College restaurants are no longer the best-kept secrets in their local community and are growing in reputation all the time. This award will allow them to really promote and showcase themselves."
Martine Pullen, director of membership for People 1st, said: "We are delighted to further develop our partnership with AA and sponsor the AA College Restaurant of the Year Award. The new award gives our accredited colleges an additional opportunity to be recognised for the excellent work of their restaurants and reward the dedication of the lecturer and student teams that run them.'
The college rosette process mirrors the current industry recognition scheme and relates in principle to the well-established AA-one-rosette award, while a second tier shows elements of a higher rosette level. Service, hospitality and kitchen management are all taken into consideration when awarding college rosettes.
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