a prestigious food award has been given to a Scottish pizzeria for the very first time.
La Favorita in Edinburgh has been crowned with an AA rosette, a prize previously reserved for such high-end eateries as Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck.
After making a secret visit to the Leith Walk restaurant in September, judges said they were blown away by La Favorita’s traditional wood-burning pizza ovens, fresh use of ingredients and service,
Jubilant owner Tony Crolla said: “I’ve always believed that being a pizzeria does not mean people should in some way expect basic food.
“It’s very pleasing to be the first pizzeria to feature in these awards and to know we’re rubbing shoulders with other well-known names in the restaurant world.
“There’s Michelin stars and then there’s AA rosettes, so to have one is utterly fantastic.”
The AA rosette comes after La Favorita won the 2008 Pizza Restaurant of the Year at the Pizza Pasta and Italian Food Association Awards.
And Mr Crolla said the secret to the restaurant’s triumphs was providing traditional pizzas with rich toppings such as prawn, salmon, monkfish and buffalo mozzarella at reasonable prices. The most expensive La Favorita pizza is £10.95.
The AA said they only awarded rosettes to local restaurants who served food prepared with care, understanding and skill who they judged could achieve “standards that stand out in their local area”.
A spokesman said: “As far as we are aware La Favorita is the first pizzeria in Scotland to receive an AA rosette.
“The restaurant impressed our inspector with the use of fine produce and traditional wood-burning pizza ovens, as well as the contemporary decor and friendly atmosphere.
“The AA is proud therefore to award La Favorita with one AA rosette in recognition of its demonstration of culinary excellence.”
The Scottish winner of the AA Restaurant of the Year 2009 was the Plumed Horse in Leith, Edinburgh, a holder of three AA rosettes.
The judges were seduced by the eatery’s “stylish simplicity” and the “classical twist and perfect execution” delivered by such dishes as the roast breast of Gressingham Duck and the foie gras with armagnac prunes.
Currently 260 Scottish restaurants hold a rosette, awarded annually on a rising scale of one to five based on covert inspector visits.
The highest AA accolade won by Scottish restaurants is four rosettes, which have been awarded to the Andrew Fairlie restaurant at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perth & Kinross, the Boath House in Nairn and Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh.
Bits and pizzas
Pizza was created more than 500 years ago by the women of Naples, Italy.
The biggest pizza ever made was baked in South Africa in 1990. It was a massive 100ft across.
Second World War soldiers who fought in Italy brought the pizza recipe back to the UK, after using it to supplement their rations at the front.
More than 1.8 billion slices of frozen pizza are sold each year. To eat just one day’s worth of frozen pizza purchases, you would have
to eat a slice of pizza every day for 13,863 years.
Pizza makers started to spin pizza dough in the air during the 1930s. The gesture of spinning dough
is for show only, it is not a function of pizza making.
Pizza means “pie” in Italian, without topping to weigh it down, the bread would puff up when it is baked.
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