Recently in AA Category

Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan is to open a "two-year pop-up" restaurant in London.

The chef patron of the critically acclaimed L'Enclume restaurant in Cartmel, Cumbria, has taken over a site in Marylebone and will reopen it in the spring.

Rogan has taken over a remaining two-year lease on the site on Blandford Street, which was previously occupied by Michael Moore, and is thus calling the restaurant a "two-year pop-up".

Head chef at the yet-to-be-named restaurant will be Ben Spalding, who recently joined Rogan at L'Enclume and previously worked at Restaurant Lipp in Gothernburg, Sweden, as well as Michelin-starred London restaurants L'Autre Pied and Rhodes W1. The food offer will be similar to that at L'Enclume.

Rogan and partner Penny Tapsell opened L'Enclume in Cartmel in 2003. Within a year, they had been awarded a Michelin star, a Newcomer of the Year Catey and a rarely awarded 10 out of 10 from the Times restaurant critic Giles Coren. Last year L'Enclume was awarded the AA's top award of five rosettes for it's "groundbreaking cuisine that is inventive and innovative".

Rogan, who opened his second restaurant, Rogan & Company, located minutes from L'Enclume in 2008, first hinted of his intention to open a restaurant in the South of England in 2006. He told Caterer then: "I want more people to sample my food. It seems you get success and recognition a lot quicker in the South."

UPDATE: Simon Rogan's London restaurant will be called Roganic and open on 1 June.

The AA will today announce the latest additions to its restaurant awards, with 13 establishments being honoured with three AA rosettes.

Among the winners are a mix of newcomers and existing operators including six establishments in London, six in England and one in Scotland.

New restaurants being elevated to the three-rosette-status, which rewards outstanding restaurants demanding recognition well beyond their local area, include Limewood in the New Forest and Kenny Atkinson's eatery at Rockliffe Hall in Darlington, County Durham, as well as Pierre Koffmann's eponymous restaurant at the Berkeley hotel; Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes's Viajante; and Alexis Gauthier's eponymous restaurant, all in London.

Among the more established operators to have gained three rosettes are the Ritz in London and the Royal Oak at Paley Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire, which last year gained a Michelin star.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings' Maze in London has been demoted to three AA rosettes, having previously held four rosettes, following the departure of both chef patron Jason Atherton and executive chef James Durrant last summer.

Three AA Rosette winners:

London:
The Ritz, Piccadilly
Viajante, Bethnal Green
Gauthier, Soho
Koffmann's, Knightsbridge
Roussillon, Pimlico
Maze, Mayfair

England:
The Royal Oak at Paley Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire
Lower Slaughter Manor, Gloucestershire
Peacock at Rowsley, Derbyshire
Kenny Atkinson at the Orangery, Darlington, Co Durham
Limewood, Lyndhurst, New Forest
The Black Swan, Oldstead, Yorkshire

Scotland:
The Torridon, Torridon

Read Caterersearch coverage for comments from the new AA rosette winner.

Veteran food critic Egon Ronay has died aged 94 after a short illness.

He passed away this morning at his Berkshire home with his wife and two daughters by his side.

A Catey Lifetime Achievement award winner, Ronay was a legendary name in the hospitality industry, a man who consistently demanded quality and never compromised on his values who earned the respect of consumers and industry heavyweights alike.

Born in Hungary in 1915, Ronay was the son of a Budapest restaurateur whose businesses were destroyed during and after World War II. He emigrated to Britain with little money in 1946 to escape the Russian occupation.

Ronay did not immediately embark on the career that was to make him famous, but worked in London restaurants before opening his own, the Marquee in Knightsbridge in 1952.

His first foray into food criticism was as a critic for the Daily Telegraph, and he launched his eponymous famous guides in 1957. The guides' reputation grew swiftly and they were eventually sold to the AA in 1985, although Ronay's name and services were retained. However, he regained the rights to the books in court in the late 1990s after arguing that the company's actions were in danger of tarnishing his name.

In the late 1990s Ronay launched a guide to eating at seven British airports run by the British Airports Authority. Although the publication was small, Ronay described its launch as "an emotional moment to go into print again". He was also instrumental in raising the quality of motorway food, by teaming up with motorway service area operator Welcome Break to award stars to cafés and restaurants trying to improve standards.
 
Ronay was a highly respected figure whose forthright views asked difficult questions when necessary and who never tired in the quest for quality. He will be sorely missed by the industry.

The Burlington Restaurant at the Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel at Bolton Abbey has been awarded four AA-rosettes.

The Michelin-starred restaurant in North Yorkshire joins 24 other establishments in the UK in the ranks of four-AA-rosette-holders.

The AA has also elevated 12 restaurants to three AA-rosette status.

Head chef Steve Smith joined the Devonshire Arms in spring 2008 replacing Michael Wignall and last year gained a Michelin star at the Burlington Restaurant. He was previously head chef at Seaham Hall, County Durham, where he held three rosettes and a Michelin star. The AA praised the Burlington Restaurant for its consistency as well as its innovative and skilful modern cooking.

Devonshire Arms managing director Ian Shelton said: "We are delighted and it goes to show that Steve is a chef of real quality. He has been working incredibly hard over the last few years, not just at the Devonshire Arms but also in his previous roles, and it's fantastic to see that his efforts have paid off."

An additional 12 restaurants have been awarded three AA rosettes. The winners, which include both new and existing establishments across the UK, were praised by the AA for their "high standards".

Three AA rosette winners are:

Colette's at the Grove, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
Restaurant Alimentum, Cambridge
21212, Edinburgh
Aubergine, London
Waldo's at Cliveden, Taplow, Berkshire
Launceston Place, London
The Green Inn, Ballater, Aberdeenshire
Hell Bay Hotel, Bryher, Scilly Isles
The Alderley Restaurant, Alderley Edge, Cheshire
Seven Park Place by William Drabble, London
1901, London
Loves Restaurant, Birmingham

Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham has won the AA's top accolade of five rosettes.

The Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms on the outskirts of Nottingham was the only restaurant to have been given the top award at the 2009-2010 AA Hospitality Awards held at the London Hilton Park Lane last night.

The restaurant was recognised for its continued high standards and for providing inspiration to peers throughout the industry.

Housed in a converted Victorian farmhouse, the 32-seat restaurant is renowned for its trademark tasting menus that include a degustation menu offering diners a taste of 12 different courses.

Bains said he was "absolutely blown away" by the accolade. "It's a great testament to what we are doing here at the restaurant and it's fantastic to be recognised in this way," he said.

"When I found out I was totally speechless, which to those who know me well is a very rare occurrence."

Four rosettes were awarded to Claude Bosi's two-Michelin-starred restaurant Hibiscus and French chef Hélène Darroze's Michelin-starred restaurant at the Connaught hotel, both in London; as well as Michael Wignall at the Michelin-starred Latymer at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot, Surrey.