A TOP hotel is enjoying the sweet taste of success after it scooped an AA rosette ‘for culinary excellence’.

The Speech House Verderers’ Restaurant’s inspirational young head chef Gareth Jenkins says his goal has been to raise the profile of the hotel as a fine dining destination and he’s delighted that his team’s efforts have been recognised.

Gareth, who comes from Blackwood in South Wales, has been ‘cheffing’ for 12 years, honing his skills at venues like the Celtic Manor in Newport when it played host to the Ryder Cup and NATO conference.

He describes his dishes as having modern British influences – featuring well-presented local produce.

“I like to use ingredients that can be bought locally by members of the pubic, rather than random ingredients from around the world.

“My favourite dish is a combination of lamb, leek and potato,” he explained.

“Being just four miles from the border I use lots of produce from the Wye Valley and Wales, like Welsh artisan cheeses.

“The Speech House attracts visitors from all over the world. The problem with that is that, while lots of local people know where we are, they don’t know what we do – they think we’re just a tourist destination.

“I’ve been trying really hard to change that view by pushing our restaurant on Facebook and other social media and I feel it’s really starting to pay dividends.

“Last year involved a lot of hard work behind the scenes, now we’re seeing the results. I don’t set out to win awards, but it’s nice to receive one,” he added.

AA inspectors operate anonymously but experienced chefs like Gareth generally know how to spot them.

“This one ordered my mackerel starter, main course of lamb with local asparagus, wild garlic and hazelnuts and a dessert of passion fruit brulee!” he said.

Having tested all aspects of the hotel, the ‘special guest’ revealed the following morning that he had awarded the restaurant a prestigious rosette.

“One rosette is very good, two is excellent and we’ll be striving for two next year,” said Gareth.

“Three and four tend to be for certain types of diners.

“I don’t want the menu here to be too intimidating. I could do a swipe of this and a foam of that, but I prefer the middle ground,” he added.

“I like trying new ideas. My latest is a starter using a beautiful gin produced in the Wye Valley – gin-pickled pear, with blue cheese, mayonnaise, walnuts, parsley oil and Romanesco.”