Manchester restaurant awarded four AA Rosettes for culinary excellence

The AA has announced its 2021 Rosette Award winners in a virtual ceremony today, recognising those restaurants achieving the highest culinary standards in the UK.

Three restaurants have been awarded four AA Rosettes, while a further sixteen have been awarded three AA Rosettes.

Those awarded four AA Rosettes are considered among the top restaurants in the country – and one Manchester restaurant has been awarded the accolade.

“Situated on a cobbled street in Manchester, Mana has a minimalist look with high ceilings and picture windows,” said the inspector.

“Dramatic darkwood tables are unclothed and an open island-style kitchen is populated by chefs sending out some highly accomplished Nordic-influenced cooking.

“Multi-course menus deliver dishes that are highly technical, intelligent and masterfully constructed to balance flavours and textures, with fermentation and fire contributing to the skills set.

“Expect to find the finest raw materials underpinning the likes of unpreserved caviar with sorrel and caramelised cream; a trimmed oyster with iced dill, English Wasabi and macerated oyster leaf; ‘fillets’ of Devonshire blue mussel with garlic ‘cooked for two months’; smoked Scottish sea trout with ‘inoculated’ grains, and 100% outdoor raised Dexter Beef with ‘all the artichoke’.

“The sweet end of the menu brings wild fig soft serve with marigold and fermented honey, and ‘still-hot’ doughnut with Islay whisky custard.”

The Ancoats restaurant was the first Manchester restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star in over 40 years in 2019, and was this summer voted number 11 in the top 100 UK restaurants.

The only other two restaurants receiving four AA Rosettes are Forest Side (Grasmere, Cumbria) and Tuddenham Mill (Newmarket, Suffolk).

Now in its 65th year, AA Rosettes have been awarded to restaurants since 1956, with the top award of five Rosettes being introduced in 1991.

The allocation of multi-Rosettes is determined by one or more visits by an AA inspector to a hotel or restaurant.

The announcement of the latest AA Rosette winners accompanies the release of The Restaurant Guide 2022 on 28th October 2021.

The Restaurant Guide 2022 features all current AA Rosette holders, recognizing the top dining destinations across the UK and Ireland.

“As the hospitality sector reopens after a challenging year, it is an honour to be able to recognise those restaurants achieving the highest levels of gastronomic excellence,” says Simon Numphud, managing director at AA Media.

“All 2021 Rosette winners deserve to be celebrated, with each one demonstrating the exceptional culinary standards being offered to diners across the country.”