College restaurant wins best of the year

Edie and Millie were visited Birmingham and impressed the judges

A student-run eatery in Devon has been named college restaurant of the year for the second time.

Exeter College's fine dining restaurant @Thirty-Four was awarded the AA College Restaurant of the Year - the "highest accolade" achievable for students.

The restaurant won the award for the first time in 2023 and were presented with the 2025 award in London at the AA Hospitality Awards.

Exeter College said Edie and Millie, two second year students, visited Birmingham earlier in the year to present to a panel of five judges and spoke about inclusion, equality and diversity within the industry.

Millie said they "became spokespeople for advocating for what we felt in the industry".

She said: "We could use our experience to really show what we think is right.

"Being able to advocate for what you think and believe in is really powerful and it's nice to feel heard and then hearing we had won made us realise they really valued what we had to say."

Edie said it felt "a bit surreal" to have won.

She said: "I didn't necessarily think we weren't going to, we got into the top three on the day, which was great but then we had to wait for the actual awards in September, so it was surreal to realise we had done it. I've got a lot out of it."

'Real privilege'

Hospitality teacher Paul Carne said he was "really pleased" to win the award for a second time.

He said: "It's kind of a testament to the hard work of the students and staff that we've got here at Exeter College and it's been a real privilege to win against such great colleges across the country.

"That pressure's always there to make sure that you're serving the best food that you can or giving the best service that you can.

"Having that award kind of rewards us for dealing with that pressure and for keeping the standard and hopefully we'll continue to do so."