This week the team from The Cottage in The Wood, Whinlatter Forest, are celebrating receiving three AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence at the autumn edition of the AA Hospitality Awards held last night at JW Marriott Grosvenor House in the capital, which welcomed star-studded guest line-up among the 900 attendees and honoured achievements across 16 award categories.
The Cumbrian-based restaurant with rooms was one of only thirteen restaurants recognised last night with the presentation of a coveted three-rosette award, joining some very illustrious company from across the UK including the likes of Skosh in York and HUMO, in London, becoming one of only 240 restaurants to be recognised across the whole UK.
Each year the AA’s inspectors hit the road tasting their way around the UK before announcing their Rosette recommendations, ordinarily announced twice annually in January and September.
There’s certainly no doubt that Jack and Beth Bond’s restaurant, in the heart of Whinlatter Forest, is keeping illustrious company, and at the same time further enhancing both Cumbria and the Northwest region’s foodie reputation.
The imaginative locally focussed menus created by chef-owner Jack Bond have rapidly propelled the restaurant’s reputation forward since he took over the helm in the kitchen in January, and then together with his wife Beth, purchasing The Cottage in the Wood from previous Kath and Liam Berney as they retired in July.
It’s plain to see that the sustainable and locally focused food philosophy of head chef, Jack Bond, has paid dividends. Jack is determined to serve fresh local produce, as he delivers the highest quality possible, whilst keeping his dishes innovative and exciting in the process.
Simon Numphud, Managing Director at AA Media, said: “This incredible celebration is a true testament to the strength and innovation within our industry. The dedication and excellence demonstrated by all the hospitality teams have been nothing short of inspiring. Congratulations to all the winners, nominees, and new Rosette holders for their remarkable contributions.”
The AA Rosette Awards first appeared in 1956, which at the time was the first nationwide scheme for assessing the quality of food served by restaurants and hotels up and down the country.
Ever since the long-established Rosette scheme has celebrated successful cooking at different levels across the UK, with around only 10% of restaurants nationwide of a standard that is worthy of one Rosette and above, which is why those establishments presented with a 3 Rosette award are among the most highly regarded in their field.
Jack and Beth Bond commented: ”We’re over the moon for the whole team at The Cottage in the Wood. This is the start of what we hope will be a hugely rewarding journey for the team and we’d like to thank them for going on this journey with us and to say a huge thanks to each of them for all their hard work so far. As a team, we’ll celebrate the award for the next couple of days but it’s business as normal from Wednesday and we’ll all continue to push to be the best we can be going forward to ensure that constituency and quality are at the forefront of all that we do.”
For a restaurant to achieve a three-rosette award it must deliver outstanding standards time and time again. The cooking on display in the kitchen must be of the highest standard and the food created should be underpinned by the selection and sympathetic treatment of only the highest quality ingredients. The timing, seasoning and judgement of flavour displayed by the chefs in the kitchen should also be consistently excellent. But that’s not all because the award also considers the delivery of service by the front-of-house team, including the delivery of intuitive service even if the wines within the restaurant’s list have been well-chosen.
