AA Rosettes
For our restaurant inspectors, the top and bottom line is the food.
The taste of a dish is what counts – and whether it successfully delivers the promise of the menu to the diner.
NOTE : The AA Home Cooking Competition 2009 is now closed for entries. Please come back and see us next year. You may also view the competition results page for the details of the winning entry.
How we award Rosettes
A restaurant is only as good as its worst meal. Although presentation of food and competent service should be appropriate to the style of the restaurant, they do not affect the Rosette assessment. Our restaurant inspectors' guidelines are outlined below.
We are constantly reviewing our Rosette criteria. Competition for awards usually results in improved standards all-round, so it's increasingly difficult for restaurants to reach award levels. But these improved standards are great news for diners….
One Rosette
- Excellent restaurants that stand out in their local area
- Food prepared with care, understanding and skill
- Good quality ingredients
Two Rosettes
- The best local restaurants
- Higher standards
- Better consistency
- Greater precision apparent in the cooking
- Obvious attention to the quality and selection of ingredients
Three Rosettes
- Outstanding restaurants recognised well beyond the local area
- Selection and sympathetic treatment of highest quality ingredients
- Timing, seasoning and judgement of flavour combinations are consistent
- Excellent, intelligent service and a well chosen wine list
Four Rosettes
- Intense ambition
- A passion for excellence
- Superb technical skills
- Remarkable consistency
- Appreciation of culinary traditions combined with desire for exploration and improvement
- Cooking demands national recognition
Five Rosettes
- Cooking stands in comparison with the best in the world
- Highly individual
- Breathtaking culinary skills
- Setting the standards to which others aspire
- Knowledgeable and distinctive wine list
