All the visits are unannounced but we will leave our card afterwards and offer feedback when it’s welcomed – we pride ourselves on that.”
The AA Restaurant Guide also offer consultancy opportunities which has sparked some debate with some in the industry questioning if this paid for scheme is a way of getting rosettes.
“Absolutely not,” said Simon. “There’s no training towards rosettes, we do have a consultancy offering but that is completely separate to the restaurant guide and all the rosettes.”
Food quality is paramount to the guide and Simon explained that ‘rosettes have always been and always will be about the quality of food.’
He said: “Essentially it’s the AA’s view on really good places to eat but most importantly it’s about the food on the plate.
“Also you can’t have good cooking without good produce. A lot more chefs are understanding that more and more now and consumers are far more knowledgeable about food than they were ten years ago. A combination of both of those things has really pushed standards up I feel.”
He added: “It’s a broad and diverse guide and it’s not just about fine dining and conversely it’s not just about pubs, it’s the whole spectrum of different hospitality businesses both large and small.”
So how do you get on the AA’s radar if you are looking to achieve recognition for your cuisine?
“Cook for your customers not for guide books,” said Simon. “I’ve seen too many businesses cook the food they think would win an accolade but they don’t have a full restaurant. That’s a very dangerous thing to do, so I think you need to cook for whoever your local market is. First and foremost make sure they are happy.
“In my experience of both working in the industry and with the AA, if you’re cooking really good food and focusing on your customers – accolades normally follow.”
The AA Hospitality Awards take place on Monday night at Grosvenor House, London and are amongst the most prestigious national awards of their kind. Winners are selected in recognition of excellence and success within their award category, having shown a significant improvement within the preceding 12 to 18 months and proving their dedication to raising industry standards and enhancing both their guest and diner experiences.
Simon said: “It’s a great honour for me to look after the business and host the award event. There will be 1100 guests from the hospitality industry there on the night and we’re delighted with the amount of support the awards event gets from chefs, restaurateurs and hoteliers – it’s a really special atmosphere.”
Without doubt the AA Hospitality Awards evening is popular but do winners of these awards and those with rosettes still use them as a career benchmark? Simon believes they do and explained that the rosette scheme was never created with that in mind.
He said: “Credit to the schemes credibility, recruitment agencies and the industry in general do refer to them as a benchmark which is a lovely and fantastic endorsement of the scheme.
"Tom Kerridge, who is designing a menu for us this year after winning four rosettes last year and the Chefs' Chef award, when reflecting back said ‘he felt rosettes are really important to the industry because he feels it allows him to benchmark against his peer set and it helps him to both recruit and retain staff. Tom also mentioned it was of ‘great benefit for younger chefs to get a good grounding at a certain rosette level as they build their career up and then move on to other places'."
Simon added: “We’ve got another exciting guide this year and we’re looking forward to celebrating this on Monday.”
We'll be bringing you the latest AA Restaurant Guide on Monday. Look out for it on our site.
By Cara Pilkington @canteencara
