Chef Germain Schwab has been crowned the AA Chef’s Chef of the Year for 2005-06.
The award was announced just over a month after Germain and wife Annie sold their five AA rosette Lincolnshire restaurant-with-rooms Winteringham Fields, which they had run together for 17 years.
“It’s a nice swansong after 40 years cooking – it’s one of the awards I never got,” said Schwab, who was especially thrilled because the award is voted for by chefs.
He was honoured for his “dedication to his craft” and “accuracy, consistency and attention to detail” as well as the time he and Annie have devoted to training, judging and charitable work.
French hotel giant Accor, scooped the AA Group Hotel of the Year Award for Novotel.
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Its mid-scale brand was rewarded for its broad appeal to both leisure and corporate customers, its dedication to the environment and value for money.
AA chief hotel and restaurant inspector Peter Birnie said: “Novotel’s new generation hotels are leading the way in design, service and food offerings.”
New generation Novotels in London Greenwich, London Excel and Edinburgh have all gained four-AA stars, and the Novotel London Euston has won the group’s first AA rosette.
Accor marketing director Roger Smith was delighted. “We’ve spent a lot of time, effort and money developing our new generation Novotels in the UK and they now compare favourably with the best hotels in the upper mid-market segment,” he said.
The regional Hotel of the Year Awards went to Calcot Manor in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, Glenapp Castle in Ballantra, Ayshire and Castle Hotel in Conwy, a refurbished coaching inn that concentrates on good food and hospitality.
Le Cercle, part of the Club Gascon group, took the London Restaurant of the Year award. “Le Cercle is at the forefront of London’s trend-setting restaurants, leading the way with all-day dining and small grazing portions,” said the AA judges.
Regional restaurant winners were John Burton-Race’s New Angel in Dartmouth, Conran’s étain restaurant in Glasgow, which was described as smart but affordable, and Cardiff institution Gilby’s Restaurant.
Stars and rosettes New hotels AA stars
Five Stars
The Baglioni Hotel, London
Marriott West India Quay, London
The Langham, London
Bovey Castle, Moretonhampstead, Devon
St Andrews Bay, St Andrews, Fife
Four Red Stars (AA Top 200 hotels)
Bath Priory, Bath, Somerset
Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, Portmarnock, Co Dublin
Three Red Stars
Cringletie House, Peebles, Scottish Borders
Hell Bay Hotel, Bryher, Isle of Scilly
Bayview Hotel, Ballycotton, Co Cork
Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel, Connemara, Co Galway
Fairyhill, Reynoldston, Swansea
Two Red Stars
Mill End Hotel, Chagford, Devon
Driftwood, Portscatho, Cornwall
New AA restaurants rosettes
Four Rosettes
L’Enclume, Cartmel
Three Rosettes
London
The Glasshouse, Kew, Richmond
Umu, London
England
Apicus, Cranbrook
Cliveden, Taplow
Driftwood Hotel, Portscatho
Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, Brockenhurst
The Harrow, Little Bedwyn
Seaham Hall, Seaham
Summer Lodge, Evershot
The Atlantic Hotel, St Brelade
Anthony’s, Leeds,
Simpson’s, Birmingham
Paris Restaurant Patrick McDonald, Birmingham
The Box Tree, Ilkley
Miller Howe, Windermere
Talland Bay, Talland
AA Guest Accomodation of the Year
England: Lower Barn, St Austell, Cornwall, 5 Diamonds
Scotland: The Lodge, Daviot Mains, Highland, 5 Diamonds
Wales: The Harbourmaster, Aberaeron, Ceredignon, 5 Diamonds
AA Pub of the Year
England: The Red Lion at Stathern, Leicestershire, 1 Rosette
Scotland: The Black Bull at Lauder, Scottish Borders, 4 Diamonds
Wales: The White Swan, Llanfrynach near Brecon, Powys, 2 Rosettes
AA Wine Award
England and overall winner: The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, Wiltshire
Scotland: The Cross, Kingussie, Highland
Wales: The Bell at Skenfrith, Monmouthshire
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