Toque Time: the 2018 Good Food Guide Awards

This year, the Good Food Guide Awards was a national affair, rather than a shindig in each city. Why? Apparently “frankly, it was the right time”.  (This may be corporate speak for “we needed to cut costs, it’s tough in newspaper land right now”.)  So inner city and regional were all combined, and Northern Territory even got  a look in! Must have been a very long night.

There were specific gongs for certain categories, and the full list of hats below. Vale Jeremy Strode, how very very sad.

Restaurant of the Year: Attica, Victoria
New Restaurant of the Year: Saint Peter, New South Wales
Chef of the Year: Daniel Puskas, Sixpenny, New South Wales
Santa Vittoria Regional Restaurant of the Year: The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery & Store, Tasmania Vittoria Coffee Legend Award: Jeremy Strode 1964-2017
Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year: Kylie Millar, Attica, Victoria
Food For Good Award: Orana Foundation, South Australia
Bar of the Year: Arlechin, Victoria
Sommelier of the Year: Raul Moreno Yague, Osteria Ilaria, Victoria
Wine list of the Year: Aria Brisbane, Queensland

Three Hats

NEW SOUTH WALES	VICTORIA	QUEENSLAND
Quay	Attica	Urbane
Sepia	Brae
	Minamishima

Two Hats

NEW SOUTH WALES	VICTORIA	QUEENSLAND
Aria	Cutler & Co.	Aria Brisbane
Automata	Dinner by Heston Blumenthal	Esquire (down a hat)
Bennelong	Estelle by Scott Pickett	Gerard’s Bistro
Bentley Restaurant & Bar	Ezard	GOMA Restaurant
Biota Dining	Fen (new entry)	Stokehouse Q
Cirrus (new entry)	Flower Drum	Wasabi
Est.	Grossi Florentino Upstairs
Ester	Igni (new entry)	SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Firedoor (up a hat)	Kuro Kisume (new entry)	Hentley Farm
Fleet	Lake House	Magill Estate Restaurant
Fred’s (new entry)	Lume	Restaurant Orana
Icebergs Dining  & Bar	O.My (up a hat)
Lucio’s	Provenance	WESTERN AUSTRALIA
LuMi Dining	Rockpool Bar & Grill	Cullen Wines
Momofuku Seiobo	Rosetta (up a hat)	Vasse Felix
Monopole	Saint Crispin
Mr. Wong	Spice Temple	TASMANIA
Muse Restaurant	Ten Minutes by Tractor	The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery & Store
Ormeggio at The Spit	Vue de Monde (down a hat)
Oscillate Wildly	Woodland House	ACT
Pilu at Freshwater		Aubergine
Porteno (re-entry)		Ottoman Cuisine
Restaurant Hubert
Rockpool Bar & Grill
Saint Peter (new entry)
Sixpenny
Tetsuya’s
The Bridge Room (down a hat)

One hat

NEW SOUTH WALES	VICTORIA	QUEENSLAND
10 William St	A La Grecque	1889 Enoteca
4Fourteen (new entry)	Amaru	​Blackbird Bar & Grill
Acme	Anchovy	E’cco Bistro
Aki’s	Atlas Dining (new hatter)	Gauge
Bacco (new entry)	Bacash	Harrisons by Spencer Patrick
Baccomatto Osteria	Bar Lourinha	Homage
​Banksii (new entry)	Bistro Guillaume	Kiyomi
Beach Byron Bay (new entry)	Cafe Di Stasio	Madame Rouge (new entry)
Bellevue	Captain Moonlite (new hatter)	Mamasan Kitchen & Bar
Billy Kwong	Catfish	Moda
​Bistro Molines	Cecconi’s Flinders Lane	​Montrachet
Bistro Officina (new entry)	Centonove	Noosa Waterfront Restaurant
​Bistro Rex (new entry)	Coda	Nu Nu
Bodega	Copper Pot Seddon (new hatter)	Otto
Buon Ricordo	Cumulus Inc.	Rick Shores (new entry)
Catalina	Da Noi	Rickys River Bar & Restaurant
Caveau	Donovans	Sake Restaurant & Bar
​China Doll	Doot Doot Doot (new hatter)	Social Eating House
Cho Cho San	​Elyros	Spirit House
Clementine (new entry)	Embla	Tartufo
Continental Deli Bar Bistro	​Epocha	The Euro
Cottage Point Inn	French Saloon	The Fish House (down a hat)
Da Orazio Pizza & Porchetta	Highline at the Railway Hotel	The Hats
​Darley’s	Ides	​The Long Apron (down a hat)
Eschalot	Il Bacaro	The Peak (down a hat)
Felix	​Kakizaki (new hatter)	The Survey Co.
Fratelli Paradiso	​Kappo	The Tamarind
Glass Brasserie	Kazuki’s	The Wolfe
Hartsyard	​Lee Ho Fook
​Harvest (new entry)	​Ma Cave at Midnight Starling (new hatter)	WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Izakaya Fujiyama	Maha	Billie H
Jade Temple (new entry)	Marion	Il Lido
Jonah’s	Masons of Bendigo	Lalla Rookh
Kepos Street Kitchen	Matteo’s	Liberte
Lolli Redini	​Montalto	Long Chim
​Long Chim (new entry)	MoVida,	Lulu La Delizia
​LP’s Quality Meats	Noir	Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth
Margan Restaurant,	Nora	The Shorehouse
Ms. G’s	Oakridge (new hatter)	Voyager Estate
Muse Kitchen (down a hat)	Osteria Ilaria (new hatter)	Wildflower
Nomad	Oter
Otto	Paringa Estate	SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Paper Bird (new entry)	Philippe (new hatter)	Africola
Paper Daisy (down a hat)	Port Phillip Estate	​Appellation
Pearls on the Beach	Public Inn	Botanic Gardens Restaurant
Pendolino	Ramblr (new hatter)	FermentAsian
Queen Chow (new entry)	San Telmo (new hatter)	​Osteria Oggi
Restaurant Mason	​Source Dining	Press Food & Wine
​Rocker (new entry)	Stefano’s (down a hat)	Shobosho
Rosetta (new entry)	Stokehouse (re-entry)	The Currant Shed
Sagra	​Supernormal	The Pot by Emma McCaskill
​Sake (Double Bay) (new entry)	TarraWarra Estate (new hatter)	​The Summertown Aristologist
Sean’s Panaroma	Tempura Hajime (new hatter)
Sokyo	​Terrace Restaurant	TASMANIA
​Sotto Sopra (new entry)	The Point Albert Park	Aloft
​Spice Temple (down a hat)	The Press Club (down a hat)	Dier Makr
St. Isidore (new entry)	​The Recreation (new hatter)	Fico
​Stanbuli	​The Town Mouse	Franklin
Subo	Tipo 00	Stillwater
​Sushi e	Tonka	Templo
The Antipodean (new entry)	Trattoria Emilia (new entry)
The Apollo	Tulip	NORTHERN TERRITORY
The Bathers’ Pavilion	Wilson & Market (new entry)	Hanuman
The Dolphin Hotel
The Gantry		ACT
The Paddington		Chairman & Yip
The Restaurant		Eightysix
The Stunned Mullet		Italian & Sons
The Zin House		Lilotang
Three Blue Ducks (re-entry)		Monster Kitchen & Bar
Tonic		Otis Dining Hall
Town		Pulp Kitchen
Uccello		Temporada
​Yellow

Toque Time (Sydney) – The SMH Good Food Guide 2015 Awards

Hot on the heels of the Melbourne Awards  last week comes the Sydney session.  The Good Food Guide turns 30 this year. It is quite extraordinary to think that 30 years ago, there was no such thing as “Modern Australian” food – instead it was called “Anglo Saxon” cuisine; and a meal at a three hatter would set you back $29.  Over the years the GFG has gotten bigger, more powerful (some would say that’s a bad thing), and the toques are always a cause for debate amongst restaurant goers like me….especially for places like Marque (sorry I had to throw that in, but really?) So who were the casualties of war in the last 12 months? Well Guillaume at Bennelong closed, refusing to become a more casual, 7 day a week, breakfast-lunch-dinner bistro as requested by the Opera House Trust, and re-opened his fine dinner just a few weeks ago in Paddington, merci beaucoup.  Claudes shut down, with Chui Lee Luk opting for the more casual Chow Bar & Eating House, serving modern Chinese.  Xanthi went into liquidation, succumbing to the Fine-Dining-In-A-Shopping-Centre-in-Australia-Doesn’t-Work curse; Buzo is now Pinbone, though they recently taunted diners with a pop up serving THAT lasagne and the cabbage salad (when will you open that whispered CBD site?), and Foveuax and Tomislav are no more.   That’s a total of nine hats. In all, 40 of the restaurants that were in the 2014 guide closed. As we hear all the time, it is a tough gig in the hospitality game.  Having said that, 80 new restaurants have appeared in the Guide this year.

Drumroll please…..and the winners are

Restaurant of the Year – Sepia

Best New Restaurant – Ester

Legend Award – Peter Doyle (Est)

Chef of the Year – Brent Savage (well deserved in my view, loving Bentley at the moment)

The Hatters – City

Three Hats

Momofuku Seiobo, Quay, Rockpool, Sepia

Two Hats

ARIA Restaurant, Bentley Restaurant & Bar (re-entry), Berowra Waters Inn (up a hat), The Bridge Room, est., Ester (new hatter), Gastro Park, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Lucio’s Italian Restaurant (up a hat), Marque, Mr. Wong, Ormeggio at the Spit, Pilu at Freshwater, Porteño (up a hat), Rockpool Bar & Grill, sixpenny (up a hat), Spice Temple, Tetsuya’s

One Hat

4Fourteen (up a hat), Aki’s Indian Restaurant, Alpha (new hatter), The Apollo, Arras, Bar H Dining (re-entry), The Bathers’ Pavilion, Billy Kwong, Bistro Moncur, Bistrode CBD, BLACK by Ezard (up a hat), The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, Bodega, Buon Ricordo (down a hat), Cafe Paci (new hatter), Cafe Sopra, Catalina, China Doll, Cho Cho San (new hatter), Clareville Kiosk, Cottage Point Inn (new hatter), the devonshire, Farmhouse (new hatter), Felix (new hatter), Fish Face (new hatter), Flying Fish Restaurant & Bar, Four in Hand Dining Room (down a hat), glass brasserie, Hartsyard, Jonah’s Restaurant, Kepos Street Kitchen, Longrain (down a hat), Lox Stock & Barrel (new hatter), Monopole, Moon Park (new hatter), MoVida (down a hat), Ms.G’s, Nomad (new hatter), Oscillate Wildly, Osteria Balla (new hatter), Osteria di Russo & Russo (new hatter), Otto Ristorante (re-entry), The Restaurant Pendolino, Saké Restaurant & Bar, Sean’s Panaroma, Sokyo, sushi e (new hatter), Three Blue Ducks, Uccello, Ume Restaurant, Vincent (new hatter), Vini (new hatter), Yellow (new hatter)

Lost hats – Ananas, Popolo, Gowings Bar & Grill

Regional Hats

Two Hats

Biota Dining (Bowral), Muse Restaurant (Pokolbin, up a hat), Subo (Newcastle West)

One Hat

Bistro Molines (Mount View), Caveau (Wollongong), Cupitt’s Kitchen (Ulla-dulla, new hatter), Darley’s Restaurant (Katoomba), Eschalot (Berrima), Fins Restaurant (Kingscliff), Harvest Cafe (Newrybar, new hatter), Lolli Redini (Orange), Manfredi at Bells (Killcare Heights), Muse Kitchen (Pokolbin, new hatter), Restaurant Como (Blaxland), Restaurant Mason (Newcastle), The Stunned Mullet (Port Macquarie), Tomah Gardens (Mt Tomah, new hatter), Tonic (Millthorpe), Town Restaurant & Cafe (Bangalow), Wharf Rd Restaurant & Bar (Nowra), Zanzibar Cafe (Merimbula)

Toque Time (Sydney) – a wrap up of 2014 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards

The Melbourne Awards kicked it off last week, this time it was Sydney’s turn. Its been a bit of a tumultuous year in Sydney dining, with a few notable closures such as Universal, Ortolan, Assiette, Mezzaluna, and Claude’s announcing it would call it a day. But its also been a big year for openings, with the last twelve months having bought us Mr Wong’s, Movida, Gowings, Mejico, and many others.  I’m sure last night would have beeen a combination of cheers and tears.

Those who disappeared from the hat list – Otto (well overdue in my view), Chiswick (beautiful surrounds but nothing that special about the food), A Tavola (that’s a shame, but seems to have been substituted with Popolo), Black By Ezard (more hype than substance), and 4Fourteen. Shock went through the crowd apparently when Marque lost a hat – frankly I’m surprised it still has two – and Est, which has been a long time ‘special occasion’ favourite of mine.

Sokyo and Hartsyard – welcome to the list – well deserved!!

On my overrated list – Quay (and all my friends agree, we must all be missing something), Icebergs (amazing view, ordinary food), and Rockbool Bar and Grill (service has been consistently bad and slow my last few visits). I also find Aria very stuffy. But as I said last week, its food, its personal, and we will never all agree.

And the winners are…..

City Restaurants

Three hats

Guillaume at Bennelong, Sepia, Momofuku, Quay, Rockpool

Two hats

Marque (down a hat), Est (down a hat), Four in Hand, Buon Ricordo, Aria, Icebergs, Rockpool Bar & Grill,  Mr Wong, The Bridge Room, Tetsuyas, Claude’s, Lucio’s (up a hat), Ormeggio at The Spit, Movida, Longrain, Spice Temple, Gastro Park, Pilu at Freshwater

One hat

Porteno (down a hat), Clareville Kiosk, Sean’s Panorama, Balla, Catalina, Popolo, Monopole (new), China Doll, Berowra Waters Inn, Pendolino, Gowings, Bodega, Flying Fish, Ananas (new), Sixpenny, Billy Kwong, Three Blue Ducks, Sake, The Devonshire, Oscillate Wildly, Aki’s Indian, Sokyo, Boathouse on Blackwattle, Xanthi, Bistro Moncur, The Apollo, Hartsyard, Buzo, Kepos Street Kitchen, Foveaux Restaurant and Bar, Bathers Pavillion, Berowra Waters Inn, Billy Kwong, Bistrode CBD, Cafe Sopra, Glass Brasserie, Jonah’s Restaurant, Ms G’s, Tomislav, Uccello, Ume

Regional Restaurants

Two Hats

Biota Dining, No 2 Oak Street, Subo

One hat

Lolli Redini, Restaurant Mason, Fins, Muse Kitchen, Restaurant Como, Eschalot, Racine, Muse Restaurant, Wharf Rd, Zanzibar Café, Caveau, The Stunned Mullet, Neila, Tyler’s Pantry, Bistro Moline, Manfredi at Bell’s, Darleys, The River Moruya, Flooded Gums, Town