AA editor quits over Ramsay veto

Simon Wright, editor of the AA Restaurant Guide, has resigned after a heated argument over the awarding of prestigious AA Rosettes.

He resigned after AA managing director Roger Wood overruled the Restaurant Guide's food critics and vetoed the awarding of an extra rosette to Gordon Ramsay's London restaurant Petrus.

Rosettes are awarded after inspectors visit venues and assess the food and service on offer. A committee then decides whether a rosette should be awarded.

But in this case Mr Wood intervened and said Petrus should not be given the extra rosette, which would take it to the maximum award of five, because he had not enjoyed a visit to the restaurant.

Now Mr Wright has quit after two years as editor saying it is "ethically impossible" for him to remain in the job.

He said he had absolutely no doubt that without the intervention of Mr Wood, who used to work for British Gas and has no food training, Petrus would have been awarded the rosette.

Gordon Ramsay and his co-owner Marcus Wareing are said to be furious about the debacle and have called for Mr Wood's resignation.

AA Rosettes were the first national scheme for grading the quality of restaurants and are recognised across Europe as a guide for assessing the standards of food and service in a venue.

Many pubs, which were once ignored by the guide, have worked hard to have their food offering recognised and several now have one or more rosettes.

But the latest controversy has left inspectors and entrants worried their efforts will now be in vain and the guide's authority will be damaged.

Pubs with AA Rosettes​

• The Village InnBarnsley, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire
• The Eagle, London EC1
• The Salt House, London NW8
• The Fire Station, London SE1
• The Buck Inn, Skipton, Yorkshire
• The Drewe Arms, Broadhembury, near Exeter, Devon
• The Millstone Hotel, Blackburn, Lancashire.