Marco Pierre White has today been named Chef of the Decade by the AA.
Runners-up for the award, introduced this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the AA rosette awards for food assessment, were Raymond Blanc and Pierre Koffmann.
The AA gave its Hotel of the Year title to the Castle Hotel in Hereford, while Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, was named Restaurant of the Year.
One inspector said of the Fat Duck: "Currently the most exciting food in the UK. The menu here is shot through with bizarre-sounding combinations and wild flights of imagination."
The County Hotel in Bath took the title of Guest Accommodation of the Year, while the AA Wine Award went to the Vineyard at Stockcross, in Newbury, Berkshire.
The Courtesy and Care award, to reward exceptional service, went to the Linthwaite House Hotel and Restaurant in Windermere, Cumbria.
Restaurants awarded four AA Rosettes for the first time were: the Castle Hotel in Hereford; Lords of the Manor in Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire; and Pétrus in London.
Last Friday the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport in Gwent won Hotel of the Year for Wales and on Thursday the Macdonald Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh will be named Hotel of the Year for Scotland.
by Louise Bozec
louise.bozec@rbi.co.uk