A Lake District restaurant team is celebrating after being awarded three AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence.
Cottage in the Wood, at Whinlatter, near Keswick, found out last night that it was among 13 restaurants honoured by the prestigious awards.
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.
Cottage in the Wood is run by Jack and Beth Bond. The couple bought the restaurant with rooms from Kath and Liam Berney when they retired in July.
Jack and Beth Bond said: ”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. The award also considers the delivery of service by the front-of-house team, including the delivery of intuitive service and if the wines within the restaurant’s list have been well-chosen.
The restaurant also has a Michelin star.
At the AA awards last night, Farlam Hall, near Brampton, was awarded four red stars.
The Michelin-starred venue is run by Karen Baybutt and chef Hrishikesh Desai and owned by Kathy Mares and Joseph Walter.
Hrishikesh said: “To be elevated to four Red Stars is to me, truly wonderful. We came to Farlam Hall with a dream of creating a beautiful, boutique destination in a spectacular and under-appreciated part of Cumbria.
“With more and more guests venturing along historic Hadrian’s Wall to find us, we’re lucky enough to be starting to realise that dream! We’ve got plenty more up our sleeves; the launch of Hrishi’s Table, our private dining experience, pushes us again creatively and we’re excited to show the world what else we can do!”
Owners Kathy and Joseph said: “We are so very proud of what Hrishikesh, Karen, and the entire team have accomplished in such a short time to make Farlam Hall one of the finest boutique hotels in the UK.”
