GLASGOW restaurant The Gannet yesterday received three AA Rosettes, those elusive decorations awarded to outstanding restaurants that demand wide recognition for culinary excellence.

The restaurant is the third in Glasgow to gain three AA Rosettes, joining Cail Bruich and Hotel du Vin.

However, Scotland’s biggest city is still trailing well behind Edinburgh, which is home to more than twice as many triple-rosette establishments than Glasgow.

These include Number One, Castle Terrace and Timberyard, while Paul Kitching’s Georgian townhouse 21212 and Martin Wishart both hold four AA Rosettes – awarded to outstanding restaurants demanding national recognition.

Last year The Kitchin in Leith became the only restaurant in Scotland to be awarded five AA Rosettes.

The capital is, indeed, a hotbed of fine dining, but of the Edinburgh eateries with three rosettes, Timberyard stands out amid the white linen and opulence as the oddball of the group, unusual in that chef Ben Radford’s new Nordic approach to Scottish cuisine champions local produce and foraged food enjoyed in a converted Victorian timber warehouse.

Make no mistake – Edinburgh is leaps and bounds ahead of Glasgow in terms of culinary heavyweights.

SO, HOW IS THE GANNET BUCKING THE TREND?

Following on from its Scottish restaurant of the year award in 2015, the Finnieston restaurant is proving to be one of the young stars of Scotland’s culinary scene, joining the 10 per cent of AA restaurants to gain three rosettes and above.

The Gannet’s head chefs and part-owners Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein have been turning all the right heads in foodie circles since setting up shop in October 2013 with a source-driven menu that showcases the best of Scotland’s larder and nose-to-tail eating.

The eatery offers treats such as lamb sweetbreads, outstandingly fresh seafood such as smoked scallop carpaccio, and a game-heavy offering with dishes such as mallard, partridge and red deer.

The menu is an ode to provenance and high-quality ingredients that is testament to a truly passionate and chef-owned restaurant, and anyone who has been there will surely drool at the thought of their Stornoway black pudding scotch duck egg.

Head of AA Hotel Services, Simon Numphud, said: “Those with three rosettes are outstanding restaurants that demand recognition well beyond their local area offering sympathetic treatment of the highest quality ingredients with consistent timing, seasoning and judgement of flavour.”

The AA have previously praised the restaurant saying: “The guys behind The Gannet looked to the wild and rugged Hebridean coastline for inspiration before opening here in Glasgow’s West End, focusing on the fabulous ingredients those islands and the rest of Scotland have to offer.”

WHAT’S THE HISTORY OF THE AA ROSETTES?

The AA Rosette scheme began in 1955 as a means of awarding the UK’s hotels and restaurants, with only one in 10 of the country’s restaurants deemed to be of a standard high enough to achieve one rosette and above.

The three and four rosette awards are announced only twice a year in January and September, recognising restaurants that have made the greatest improvements in the culinary field.

WHAT’S THE WIDER PICTURE OF SCOTLAND’S FOODIE LANDSCAPE?

Scotland’s food scene was dealt a blow last year when three big hitters lost Michelin stars in the 2016 guide. Tom Kitchin’s sister restaurant Castle Terrace, Skye’s The Three Chimneys and Knockinaam in Galloway were all stripped of accolades. Despite newcomer The Cellar in Anstruther being awarded its first star, Scotland’s Michelin-starred restaurants dropped from 15 to 13.

Scotland’s Michelin-starred restaurants are dotted around the country, from Ayrshire to Balloch to the Isle of Eriska. Edinburgh clocks in at four stars, yet Glasgow has not had a single star since Gordon Ramsay’s Amaryllis closed in 2004.

DOES THE GLASGOW FOOD SCENE EXCEL IN OTHER AREAS?

Scrolling through the index of restaurants, it’s not hard to see why the city is not part of this elite club – Glasgow’s metropolitan scene seems somehow incongruous with fancy dining rooms.

Yet the city does boast three out of nine of Scotland’s Bib Gourmand awards. These recognise good quality to price ratio (three courses for under £28). This is more in keeping with Glasgow’s laid-back approach to dining, swapping starched napkins and sommeliers for bare bulbs and exposed brickwork.

Among the Bib Gourmand restaurants is Glasgow stalwart Stravaigin, along with the fresh-faced Ox and Finch and The Gannet. Though these restaurants may be in a lower league than Edinburgh’s finest in terms of price, precision and presentation, they still serve fantastic food in an inclusive and casual setting.

Crucially, they offer the chance to sit down with friends and family to enjoy a meal in a relaxed environment, without the sense that unwavering eyes are watching over you, braced to refold your napkin should you pop to the toilet, relentlessly topping up glasses and catering for every need.

Glasgow’s burgermania may have seen an unquenchable proliferation of gourmet burger joints over the past few years, but the city has far more to offer than that. There have been some fantastic pop-up food ventures of late, with the Street Food Cartel collective and Section 33 opening up at the Britannia Panopticon last November. And there is a whole host of new restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries appearing on the city’s south side.

Too much consideration shouldn’t be given to awards and accolades, but another triple AA Rosette shows that Glasgow is on the right track, with a food scene that is evolving at its own pace. It might be a distant dream, but perhaps one day Glasgow will again have a Michelin star, although it will be on the city’s own terms.