The AA has today announced the latest restaurants to be awarded four and three AA rosettes. Just one restaurant, 21212 in Edinburgh, has been awarded the prestigious accolade of four AA Rosettes while 13 establishments are have been awarded three AA Rosettes.
Formerly of Juniper in Altrincham, Paul Kitching is now chef-patron at 21212 www.21212restaurant.co.uk in Edinburgh. The name lays out the culinary concept with the menu offering up to five courses (two starters, two mains and two desserts with small, but perfectly formed, morsels in between).
Exciting, artful, complex, even confrontational stuff that defies easy classification, the venue is a splendid townhouse in a smart Edinburgh postcode with a high-ceilinged Georgian dining room done out with the original fancy plasterwork.
North of England
The new three rosette restaurants include four restaurants in the North of England and two in our region namely Freemasons Country Inn, Wiswell, Lancashire and 1851 Restaurant, Peckforton Castle, Peckforton, Cheshire. The full list is as follows:
Rogan and Co, Cartmel, Cumbria
Freemasons Country Inn, Wiswell, Lancashire
Wynyard Hall, Billingham, Co Durham
1851 Restaurant, Peckforton Castle, Peckforton, Cheshire
The Sir Charles Napier, Chinnor, Oxfordshire
Titchwell Manor, Titchwell, Norfolk
Dabbous, London
Lewtrenchard Manor, Lewdown, Devon
Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath
The Feathered Nest Inn, Nether Westcote, Gloucestershire
Marquis at Alkham, Dover, Kent
Paul Ainsworth at No 6, Padstow, Cornwall
Stoke Park, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire
The Freemasons Country Inn is a rustic country gastro-pub, although it might take you some time to track it down in the narrow back streets of the chocolate-box village of Wiswell. Inside are flagstoned floors, antique rugs and furniture, and hunting-themed paintings on heritage-hued walls, while the kitchen works to an ethos that aims to satisfy rather than push the culinary envelope.
Chef-patron Steven Smith has strong supply lines to local suppliers, having worked in some of the Northâs top kitchens before going solo, and sends out inventive, technically accomplished dishes.
1851 Restaurant Peckforton Castle is a real medieval fortress, built for a Victorian peer of the realm. The date of its completion is celebrated in the name of the restaurant.
Deep-pile carpets and thick napery add to the sense of stolidity, but the cooking by Chef Mark Ellis, is the only area where the modern world breaks in.
The Freemasons Country Inn, 8 Vicarage Fold, Clitheroe, Wiswell, BB7 9DF. Tel: 01254 822218 www.freemasonsatwiswell.com
1851 Restaurant Peckforton Castle, Stone House Lane, Peckforton, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 9TN. Tel: 01829 260 930 www.peckfortoncastle.co.uk