The owners of an award-winning Cumbrian pub are celebrating this week after receiving four prestigious awards from the AA, recognising the quality of their accommodation, food service and wine list.
The Black Bull in Sedbergh has successfully retained its second AA Red Rosette for Culinary Excellence for the second year in a row.
It has now added the AA five-star Inn Award, moving up from its previous four stars and the AA Breakfast Award and a Notable Wine List Award to their haul.
Co-owner of the gastropub with rooms, James Ratcliffe said: “We’re delighted that we’ve maintained our Two AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence.
“Adding the AA five-star Inn Award, an AA Breakfast Award, and the fact that the AA has also chosen to recognise the strength and depth of our wine list with a Notable Wine List Award too is the icing on the cake.
“We’d like to thank them for the commitment they’ve shown in helping us work towards our goals for the Black Bull across all areas of the business. I’m sure when we all have five minutes the entire team will take stock and celebrate a little – I’d just like to add these awards are a testament to every member of the team from housekeeping to the front-of-house and pot wash to the chefs themselves and I’d like to say a huge thank you to them for all their hard work this year so far.’’
The AA Hotel Services’ Hotel & Restaurant Inspector commented: ‘’An ever-refining dining product here which now features a tasting option, giving a chance to lift quality and consistency.
“Aside from this, wider menus offer a good choice and certainly value vs the quality and content. At dinner, there was a good sense of luxury ingredients handled with care and an adherence to principles of sustainability.
“Wine lists read very well indeed and cover a huge amount of ground offering a superb depth and choice. Breakfast menus are concise with the focus rightly on quality – The AA Breakfast award is now in place too.’’
The AA introduced a star rating system to classify hotels in 1912, and in 2006 they developed Common Quality Standards for inspecting and rating accommodation. These standards and rating categories are now applied throughout the British Isles.
These well-established and nationally recognised ratings provide businesses with an independent national quality marque, which in turn enables potential guests to make informed decisions about where to stay based on information collated by one of the UK’s most trusted brands.
In turn, an AA Red Rosette award is only presented to restaurants that are achieving standards that stand out in their local area. These are restaurants that are serving food prepared with care, understanding and skill, using good quality ingredients, enabling diners to make informed decisions about where to eat.
The AA introduced the AA Breakfast Award in 2019 and the AA Notable Wine List Award, introduced in 1998, is given on the overall quality of its wine selection, as well as an outstanding contribution to promoting wine understanding and appreciation.
Nominees are judged on the quality of their wine list and their ability to inspire customers to make wider and more adventurous choices in selecting wines.
