We’re giving one lucky reader the chance to enjoy a gourmet getaway at Lancemore Lindenderry in Red Hill, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Think sweeping countryside views paired with delicious local wines and premium local dining — the perfect luxury escape for two. To enter, vote below for the Readers’ Choice Enduring Excellence winner in the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards, tell us why your pick deserves to win, and make sure you’re signed up to the Gourmet Traveller newsletter.

The Readers’ Choice Enduring Excellence award (formerly called the Readers’ Choice Icon Award, and awarded to the Hawkesbury River’s Berowra Waters Inn in 2025) acknowledges venues with a long-running reputation for outstanding food, service and impact on Australia’s dining landscape. As the only award in the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards program decided by popular vote, it’s your chance to champion local heroes and deserving institutions.

All winners for the 2026 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards will be revealed in our September issue.

The finalists

Balthazar

Perth, WA 

In an era when diners are easily dazzled by shiny new things, Balthazar has remained at the top of its game, enduring as a CBD go-to since opening in 1998. Their easy, assured service continues to draw a crowd, as does the seafood spaghetti, glistening with an egg-emulsified sauce and topped with prawn oil.

Beccofino

Teneriffe, QLD

Famous for its wood-fired pizzas, Beccofino’s thin bases and topping restraint are key. For more than 20 years, they’ve been serving a crowd-pleasing menu of Italian classics with easy elegance. Revered by locals (and attracting a waitlist most nights of the week), Beccofino is a Brisbane stalwart.

Beppi’s

Darlinghurst, NSW

Since opening in 1956, Beppi’s has charmed every tier of society, making it the longest-running family-owned Italian restaurant in Sydney – now operated by Beppi’s son, Marc. In a city obsessed with the next big thing, this restaurant hums with old-school romance, remaining defiantly timeless.

Chianti

Adelaide, SA

Having turned 40 last year with the next generation of Favaros at the helm, Chianti seems to have always been part of the city. Expect Italian tradition served with a twist – the beef carpaccio comes with an ‘everything bagel’ crumb. Lunch on the verandah is more quintessentially Adelaide than a ride on the Popeye.

Marios

Fitzroy, Vic

This year marks the Melbourne institution’s 40th anniversary. Originally opened as a place for the burgeoning hub of local artists, musicians, uni students and shift workers to drop in for an all-day breakfast or a simple bowl of spaghetti, not much has changed since then, beyond Marios‘ evolution to icon status.

Mures Upper Deck

Hobart, Tas

Their ‘hook-to-plate’ philosophy has been in practice since the Mure family established Mures Fish House in 1973 and today much of the menu at Mures Upper Deck still comes straight off the family fishing boats. Enjoying a Tassie southern rock lobster on the waterfront at Victoria Dock is a Hobart bucket list experience.

Vote now

*Conditions apply, see aremedia.com.au/competitions. Commences 01/06/26. Ends 11:59pm AEDST on 30/06/26. To be eligible for entry the participant must be signed up to the Gourmet Traveller email database. AU residents 18+. This is a game of skill, not a game of chance. Only one entry per person. Drawn at 54 Park St, Sydney, NSW, 2000 at 9:30am AEST/AEDST on 02/17/26. The Promoter is Are Media Pty Limited (ABN 18 053 273 546) of 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000.

The post Vote in our Readers’ Choice Enduring Excellence Award for your chance to win appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

“With a menu that honours the ocean’s bounty, and a commitment to superb service, Saint Peter is a shining example of what it means to be a world-class restaurant,” says Nicky Briger, Head of Luxury at Are Media (publisher of Gourmet Traveller).

For the first time in its 45-year history, the Awards were held in Tasmania, with the glittering gala event in The IXL Atrium at Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart attended by many of the country’s leading chefs and restaurant personalities.

Another Sydney restaurant, the waterfront Berowra Waters Inn, was awarded the Readers’ Choice Icon Award — the only award decided by public vote — with executive chef and owner Brian Geraghty accepting the honour for his riverfront cottage that has enamoured Sydneysiders for decades. The Best New Restaurant is the Lucas Group’s multi-level Parisian wonderland Maison Bâtard, and Brisbane’s small-but-stellar +81 Aizome Bar was named Bar of the Year.

Leaders of Australia’s restaurant landscape were acknowledged, from Tony Tan (Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality) for his decades-long career cooking and sharing knowledge, to Ozge Kalvo (Best New Talent) running the ever-packed Sydney restaurant Olympus. The peer-voted Chef of the Year went to Nik Hill of Porcine, and Melbourne’s Angie Giannakodakis was recognised as Restaurant Personality of the Year for her multidisciplined vision of hospitality at Taverna in Melbourne.

As the country’s only national restaurant awards program, state winners are awarded in addition to Restaurant of the Year. In 2025, these include Ross and Sunny Lusted’s Marmelo, in Victoria, solidifying the case for hotel restaurants; Phil Marchant’s sophisticated Essa in Queensland; the glamorous Gibney in Western Australia; and architectural icon Lunetta in the capital.

In South Australia, Clare Falzon’s Staġuni in Barossa took home State Winner and the award for Best Destination Dining, and last year’s Gourmet Traveller Restaurant of the Year, The Agrarian Kitchen Restaurant, retained its place as Tasmania’s State Winner. Founder Rodney Dunn was on hand to prepare the night’s menu, alongside the teams from noted local restaurants Fico and Omotenashi, with each venue presenting a course centred on exceptional Tasmanian produce.

Top Australian chefs, including Peter Gilmore, Analiese Gregory, Brent Savage, Christian Ryan, Massimo Mele, Daniel Puskas and Matt Breen, enjoyed the evening’s menu and celebrations of Australian hospitality’s industry standouts.

Congratulations to all winners of this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards.

State winners

• ACT: Lunetta, Canberra
• NSW: Saint Peter, Sydney
• VIC: Marmelo, Melbourne
• QLD: Essa, Brisbane
• SA: Staġuni, Barossa Valley
• TAS: The Agrarian Kitchen Restaurant, New Norfolk
• WA: Gibney, Perth

The winners

Restaurant of the Year: Saint Peter

Sydney, NSW

Josh and Julie Niland’s globally acclaimed seafood restaurant continues to dazzle, with its upsize providing room for even more creativity.

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Chef of the Year: Nik Hill

Porcine, NSW

As the only peer-voted award issued by Gourmet Traveller, this acknowledgment speaks to Hill’s steadfast commitment to executing excellence.

read more

Best New Restaurant: Maison Bâtard

Melbourne, VIC

Delivering four levels of French extravagance is exactly how you might expect the Lucas Group to celebrate 30 years in the game.

read more

Readers’ Choice Icon Award: Berowra Waters Inn

Sydney, NSW

Our only award to be determined by a public vote proves the enduring appeal of this riparian destination.

read more

Best New Talent: Ozge Kalvo

Olympus Dining, NSW

As head chef at Sydney’s 200-seat Greek taverna, Kalvo shows she can manage scale with soul.

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Restaurant Personality of the Year: Angie Giannakodakis

Taverna, VIC

Giannakodakis has championed the art of hospitality (and every element of it) for over three decades.

read more

Bar of the Year: +81 Aizome Bar

Brisbane, QLD

Japan’s love for artisan details meets a boundary-pushing approach to beverage development at this 10-seat expression of vibrant creativity.

Read more

Best Destination Dining: Staġuni

Barossa Valley, SA

Chef Clare Falzon’s Maltese heritage mingles with memories of a simpler time on the plate at this charming and authentic regional kitchen.

read more

Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality: Tony Tan

Tony Tan’s Cooking School

From neighbourhood restaurants to his popular cooking schools, Tony Tan has been shaping the way we eat for over 40 years.

read more

Full profiles of each of the winners, along with the Annual Restaurant Guide, feature in the September issue of Gourmet Traveller, on sale Monday, 25 August 2025.

The Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards are presented by Lexus, with support from Tourism Tasmania, Wedgwood, PorkStar, Scanpan, MACq01, Petaluma Wines and LARK.

To see the full list of finalists in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

The post Revealed: Winners of the Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

The entire team also seems to operate with a renewed sense of elevation and maturity befitting their grand new home: from the dynamic partnership of head chef Joe Greenwood and head of development Kieran Bellerby, to sommelier Houston Barakat manning the wines, and Sam Cocks on the cocktails, while restaurant manager Monique Guest brings excellence to the floor.

There are now two additional ways to access the world of Saint Peter, just footsteps from the restaurant’s door. There’s the adjacent bar, where you can order a drippy, finger-licking tuna cheeseburger or a diminutive version of the restaurant’s signature dish: pale pink petals of blue mackerel, bathed in Gordal olive oil brine, alongside an Oyster Shell Martini. And upstairs are 14 grand hotel rooms, designed by Studio Aquilo, where you can sleep, so to speak, with the fishes, before indulging in what might be the world’s most extravagant hotel breakfast (the marron scrambled eggs are the best reason to get out of bed anywhere in the city).

But while all of the new trappings and trimmings sound seductive on their own, there remains one unyielding element of the Saint Peter experience that has not changed: the excellence in flavour of every dish. There is intense savouriness in a not-simple-at-all amuse-bouche of fish soup with coral trout bone noodles. A John Dory liver pâté throws complex layers of deliciousness with its sweet Port and Madeira jelly. A sorbet dessert of native flavours – lemon aspen, quandong, muntries – runs your tongue along the full fruit flavour spectrum from sweet to sour.

It is, without question, the most unforgettable meal you can eat in Australia today.

To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of the Restaurant of the Year Award

• 2024: The Agrarian Kitchen Restaurant, New Norfolk TAS
• 2023: Agnes, Brisbane QLD
• 2022: Restaurant Botanic, Adelaide SA
• 2021: Tedesca Osteria, Red Hill VIC
• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of Restaurant Awards
• 2019: Attica, Melbourne VIC
• 2018: Quay, Sydney NSW
• 2017: Orana, Adelaide SA
• 2016: Momofuku Seibo, Sydney NSW
• 2015: Rockpool, Sydney NSW
• 2014: Attica, Melbourne VIC
• 2013: Momofuku Seibo, Sydney NSW
• 2012: Quay, Sydney NSW
• 2011: Marque, Sydney NSW
• 2010: Cutler & Co., Melbourne VIC
• 2009: Quay, Sydney NSW

The post Hook, line and sinker: Josh Niland’s Saint Peter crowned Restaurant of the Year appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Of course the setting is just part of the story. The rest is told on the plates. Since taking over in 2012, executive chef Brian Geraghty and now, newly appointed head chef Jack Brown, craft a six-course menu that gathers – with a blend of gentle grace and exacting precision – the country’s best ingredients, many of them native. A pale snapper crudo is given a vegetal lift with tiny marigold leaves and the sweet tang of preserved rosella blossoms. A circlet of squid – fished from the very waters you’re looking at – is crowned by folds of warrigal greens and a muscular native XO. Bunya nut, emu eggs and marron may also make an appearance. The delicate finale is a trio of pretty petits fours: a jewel of a jube, a madeleine, a mirror-like chocolate. All of it is presented by a small, dedicated team, and three levels of wine pairing draw exclusively from home-grown producers. If the day is sunny, you could retire to the outdoor terrace and finish your coffees or digestifs beneath the gumtrees.

Running a restaurant this isolated – and this special – across decades, takes passion and dedication. No wonder it’s amassed such a devoted following in return.

Find all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Readers’ Choice Icon Award here. To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of the Readers’ Choice Icon Award

• 2024: Lake House, Daylesford VIC
• 2023: Brae, Birregura VIC

The post Berowra Waters Inn is the first NSW restaurant to win Gourmet Traveller’s Icon Award appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

That attention to detail extends to the glassware: delicate Kimura pieces from Tokyo with stems so fine, you wonder how many have snapped since the bar opened last December.

And then there’s the room. Brisbane designer Alexander Lotersztain drew inspiration from the tiny bars of Ginza. Just 10 seats line a dark timber counter, the space enveloped in a jaw-dropping deep indigo – a nod to the bar’s name (aizome is Japanese for indigo dyeing). Every element, from materials and delivery to mood, is intentional.

Owner Hisatake Kamori is president of Japanese tourism company Kamori Kanko, which also owns Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Along with a neighbouring gin distillery, +81 Aizome Bar marks Kamori’s first foray into Brisbane hospitality. Later this year, he will open the adjoining 12-seat restaurant, +81 Kappo (you can glimpse its sleek counter en route to the bathroom). But for now, +81 Aizome Bar is an exciting preview of what’s to come.

Mixologist Tony Huang is a calm and composed presence behind the bar. Huang is known for co-creating neo cocktails (at Melbourne’s now-closed Par) that take three to five days to make and are served in wine glasses. At +81 Aizome Bar, that includes a Tomato Rosé with savoury depth from the use of green tea, strawberry, tomato and chilli skin, and an aromatic, textural Rind Gewürztraminer made with watermelon rind and black tea.

The best way to experience Huang’s creations is via a flight of six. This can be matched with a six-course tasting menu by chef Aidan Whittle, which includes a nori tartlet filled with smoked eggplant and whipped miso tofu, and raw Hokkaido scallops (frozen at -80°C to break down the muscle fibres) with aged ponzu and grapefruit kosho. There’s also a beef katsu sando, using MB9+ Stockyard Kiwami wagyu, which pairs brilliantly with the Tomato Rosé.

There are also several fresh cocktails showcasing Japanese tea, including the Dirty Plum Martini, made with rice vodka from the neighbouring distillery, sake, sencha tea, pickled ume and plum.

Beyond cocktails, sommelier Misa Ohshige has compiled a 170-bottle wine list, around 80 sakes and a collection of rare spirits, including Japanese whiskies available only at the distillery. Don’t miss the special bottles displayed in the listening room, inspired by Japan’s jazz kissatens, complete with a 1970s Sanyo turntable and vintage Japanese records.

Find all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Bar of the Year Award here. To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of the Bar of the Year Award

WINE BAR OF THE YEAR

From 2021 to 2024, we changed the Bar of the Year Award to Wine Bar of the Year. In 2025, we have reverted to Bar of the Year to include a broader scope of bars.

• 2024: South West Wine Shop, Busselton WA
• 2023: Good Gilbert, Adelaide SA
• 2022: Paloma, Burleigh Heads QLD
• 2021: Monopole, Sydney NSW

BAR OF THE YEAR

• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of the Restaurant Awards 
• 2019: Wines of While, Perth WA
• 2018: Liberté, Albany WA
• 2017: Bar Rochford, Canberra ACT
• 2016: Pink Moon Saloon, Adelaide SA
• 2015: The Gresham, Brisbane QLD
• 2014: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane QLD
• 2013: Bar Di Stasio, Melbourne VIC
• 2012: The Everleigh, Melbourne VIC
• 2011: Shady Pines Saloon, Sydney NSW
• 2010: Eau-de-Vie, Sydney NSW
• 2009: Gerald’s Bar, Melbourne VIC

The post It’s official: +81 Aizome Bar in Brisbane is the best bar in Australia appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Hill shaped his craft in the kitchen of The Ledbury in London. In Australia, he slammed the pans at Sepia and The Old Fitzroy. He opened Porcine in 2021, as the truest expression of the way he likes to cook and eat. “We lean into the golden eras of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s when the nouvelle cuisine movement really excelled,” says Hill, adding that Porcine’s food draws inspiration not just from the many distinctive regions of France, but also from French enclaves globally, such as Montreal.

The focus is, as the name suggests, pork, and no collection of revered Sydney dishes would be complete without including Hill’s signature rich pork creton and lentils, a Québécois dish that resembles a heart-stopping pâté. Still, many of Porcine’s best moments happen beyond the hog, in dishes like Provençal-style lamb saddle and wild mushroom vol-au-vents. The pre-order canard à la presse, too, is a dish of deep sophistication and elegance, presenting tableside with every trimming.

It’s not only Sydneysiders who recognise Hill’s kitchen excellence. This award, it should be noted, is peer-voted by chefs around Australia. What’s more, this year, Hill won the prestigious Golden Knife at the Bocuse d’Or Australia. His winning dishes were intricate, flamboyant and dripping with technique: a warm galantine of duck with pork farce, Madeira, black truffles and foie gras and an extravagant lamb platter. They were, as Hill noted, “very classic flavours with a modern approach to detail.” It’s a description that also fits the food coming out of the kitchen at Porcine. This is Hill’s superpower.

In today’s tough culinary landscape, it’s likely that the most cost-effective and business-smart thing the chef could do would be to churn out French bistro classics on repeat. But Hill is not someone who could ever let his imagination and creativity slip into hibernation. Every dish, every detail at Porcine pushes that little bit beyond the ordinary. And Sydney’s dining scene is a better place because of it.

See the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of Gourmet Traveller’s Chef of the Year Award

• 2024: Pasi Petänen, NSW
• 2023: Hugh Allen, VIC
• 2022: Thi Le, VIC
• 2021: Daniel Puskas, NSW
• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of our Restaurant Awards
• 2019: Paul Carmichael, NSW
• 2018: Josh Niland, NSW
• 2017: Mat Lindsay, NSW
• 2016: Ben Shewry, VIC
• 2015: Dan Hunter, VIC
• 2014: Martin Benn, NSW
• 2013: Andrew McConnell, VIC
• 2012: Ben Shewry, VIC

The post Nik Hill of Porcine wins Chef of the Year, as voted by his industry peers appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Bâtard’s menus (one each for basement, rooftop and dining room) have an unashamed provincial French lean but there’s no chin-stroking seriousness about cultural authenticity. Head chef Adam Sanderson has a talent for well-conceived, good-looking, crowd-pleaser dishes skilfully cooked and assembled but never overhandled or fussy. Often, they’re anchored by luxurious ingredients, whether that’s caviar sharing space with crisp potatoes in an omelette, spicy tuna hidden beneath a deep green cap of finely diced chives, a rotisserie chicken tumbled with green olives, a half lobster, a whole bone-in rib-eye or Belgian chocolate shaved over a scoop of chocolate mousse.

The drinks are great too, with sommelier Loic Avril demonstrating his trademark mastery on a wine list with a surprisingly democratic price range and a cocktail program that includes a list of Martinis and a Francophile spin on the classics (they’re fans of the trending Chartreuse).

Maison Bâtard may read like a restaurant and it certainly can be that, if you want it to be. But we love it because it offers a “choose your own adventure” approach, a version of the increasing flexibility we demand of our diners, but all dressed up and a bit tipsy so there’s a little glamour and Parisian style in the mix too. And who doesn’t need a little glamour in troubled times?

Find all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Best New Restaurant Award here. To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of the Best New Restaurant Award

• 2024: King Clarence, Sydney NSW
• 2023: Serai, Melbourne VIC
• 2022: Margaret, Sydney NSW
• 2021: Gimlet, Melbourne VIC
• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of Restaurant Awards
• 2019: Di Stasio Città, Melbourne VIC
• 2018: Laura, Merricks VIC
• 2017: Fred’s, Sydney NSW
• 2016: Restaurant Hubert, Sydney NSW
• 2015: Bennelong, Sydney NSW
• 2014: Brae, Birregurra VIC
• 2013: Mr Wong, Sydney NSW
• 2012: Momofuku Seiobo, Sydney NSW
• 2011: Porteño, Sydney NSW
• 2010: Ortiga, Brisbane QLD
• 2009: Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney NSW

The post Maison Bâtard in Melbourne has been crowned Australia’s Best New Restaurant appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

For starters, he’s a master of hospitality, a genius at making people feel comfortable cooking outside their comfort zone. He does this with wit, intelligence and kindness but also with a particular skill for smoothly contextualising the dishes he is teaching: their origins and influences, how history and immigration, borrowing, improvising and adapting have shaped them and how food is a great example of how diversity links rather than divides us.

Tan came to Australia aged 17 to study history but soon succumbed to the siren song of the restaurant, running first Tatler’s Café in Sydney and then the ground-breaking vegetarian restaurant Shakahari in Melbourne. He returned to university to complete his education but was also invited to be a host on the SBS series The Food Lovers’ Guide to Australia. This was the first public inkling that here was a guy who not only knew his stuff but was a brilliant communicator.

The first Tony Tan cooking school opened in 2000 and was run out of his Melbourne home with wine served alongside lessons, demonstrating his sharp hospo instincts for putting students at ease. The second version of the school opened in 2021, but this one in his Trentham home in regional Victoria allowed him to add a produce garden and chooks to the mix. His classes rightfully remain on the bucket list of any self-respecting food lover, but it’s with his two acclaimed cookbooks, Hong Kong Food City and Tony Tan’s Asian Cooking Class, where his legacy is apparent.

With their accounts of personal and general food history, explanatory lists of ingredients and precise, beautifully written recipes that are never dumbed down but carefully and methodically detailed in a way that works for professional and savvy home cooks alike, Tan has produced two cooking classics that firmly belong on bookshelves with all the other dog-eared, food-splattered masters. Outstanding contribution may be underselling Tony Tan’s influence on the way we eat.

See the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards.

Past winners of the Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality Award

• 2024: The Ayubi family, Parwana Afghan Kitchen, SA
• 2023: Sean Moran, Sean’s, NSW
• 2022: Dani Valent, VIC
• 2021: Amy Chanta, NSW
• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of Restaurant Awards
• 2019: Kylie Kwong, NSW
• 2018: Rootstock, NSW
• 2017: Ronni Kahn, OzHarvest, NSW
• 2016: Bruce Pascoe, VIC
• 2015: Joost Bakker, VIC
• 2014: Alla Wolf-Tasker, Lake House, VIC
• 2013: George Biron, Sunnybrae, VIC
• 2012: Janni Kyritsis, NSW
• 2011: The Hemmes family, Merivale, NSW
• 2010: Cheong Liew, SA
• 2009: Leo Schofield, NSW
• 2008: Donlevy Fitzpatrick, VIC
• 2007: Phillip Searle, NSW

The post Tony Tan is this year’s recipient of our Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality Award appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Reminders of the scholastic past remain at Staġuni; a wall-length blackboard scrawled with an artisanal wine offering (the brief is simple: great people making great booze), high ceilings, and a notepad-style menu reminiscent of a time when pen licences were a thing. Remember the days when there was time to breathe deeply, and space to just be? Chef Clare Falzon channels that here with a communal, beautifully executed, no-fuss spread inspired by her Maltese heritage, specifically childhood meals at her nan’s.

Leading the charge is hobz biz-zejt (thick slices of bread) accompanying a medley of diced tomato, capers and olive oil. Minestrone oozes love passed down over generations, while Italy meets North Africa in a tumble of thin-sliced beef, white anchovy mayonnaise, sunflower seeds, currants and fresh mint crunch. Mussels in Gorgonzola and white wine sauce demand fingers and slurping, all of which are encouraged here.

Falzon’s father died when she was 10 but loved to get messy in the kitchen. Memories of his smile lighting up the kitchen remind her of the power of meals shared with raw appreciation. Falzon is inspired by nature, and while the décor is subtle, it draws on the surrounding landscape. Two-tone walls match the gum trees outside (bark hues up top, leaves below) and each table is dotted with a sprig of foliage from her yard. Originally from the east coast of New South Wales, the young restaurateur found a sense of community in western Barossa. That love for her new home is reflected in the hyper-local produce, forged over years of connection with farmers.

The site is home to a collective of creative businesses, including a pottery studio and New Wave Wines cellar door. Settle on the porch – with a cocktail or non-alcoholic concoction – and you might catch a glimpse of the neighbouring dahlia grower delivering Mother Nature’s bounty. It’s fresh, authentic and unpretentious. Just what the world needs right now.

See all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Best Destination Dining Award, or this year’s full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards.

Past winners of the Best Destination Dining Award

Until 2017, Gourmet Traveller referred to this award as Regional Restaurant of the Year.

• 2024: Chauncy, VIC
• 2023: Glenarty Road, WA
• 2022: Van Bone, TAS
• 2021: Oaks Kitchen and Garden, QLD
• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of Restaurant Awards
• 2019: Brae, VIC
• 2018: Brae, VIC
• 2017: Igni, VIC
• 2016: Igni, VIC
• 2015: Three Blue Ducks, NSW
• 2014: Brae, VIC
• 2013: The Stackings, TAS
• 2012: Loam, VIC
• 2011: Royal Mail Hotel, VIC
• 2010: Royal Mail Hotel, VIC
• 2009: Royal Mail Hotel, VIC
• 2008: Royal Mail Hotel, VIC
• 2007: Nu Nu, QLD
• 2006: Absynthe, QLD

The post Staġuni in Barossa is the winner of our Best Destination Dining Award appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

First coming to prominence in Melbourne at two ground-breaking projects (The Press Club, Hellenic Republic) that dramatically shifted how Greek cuisine was perceived in Australia, Giannakodakis then expanded her role to restaurateur (with business partner Guy Holder) at Epocha, Elyros and, now, at Taverna. A love letter to family and culture at the site that formerly housed Hellenic Republic, Taverna amalgamates many of her core influences, from the site itself (professional) to a menu that includes her mother’s recipe for moussaka (personal) and a wine list with real estate increasingly populated by Hellenic labels and varieties (cultural).

With decades working both front-of-house and behind the scenes, Giannakodakis’s knowledge and love for hospitality is something of a given, but she is clear-eyed about it too, embracing the industry’s potential for creating beauty and a sense of community, while also recognising and acknowledging the hard, boring, repetitive parts that are essential to the success and longevity of any restaurant. She went to university (while still running her own restaurant) to study for an MBA as part of this belief that gaining solid knowledge of every aspect of hospitality allows for a holistic view that’s essential, not just in terms of her own business but for the industry as a whole.

Giannakodakis has run classes in restaurant etiquette, spent more than a decade working in restaurants in Greece, and during the pandemic helped spearhead Eat Forward Melbourne, an initiative designed to keep people employed in the industry and to provide meals for restaurant workers who lost their jobs to Covid. It speaks to the breadth of both her hospitality knowledge and her empathy, but also pegs her deep understanding of what the industry brings to life, be that introducing a customer to assyrtiko for the first time, mixing an inarguable Negroni or just having people leave her restaurants and go out into the world happier than they were when they arrived.

Find all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Personality of the Year Award here. To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of the Restaurant Personality of the Year Award

• 2024: Sarah Baldwin
• 2023: Louise Radman
• 2022: Shannon Martinez
• 2021: Sharon Romeo

The post Meet our Restaurant Personality of the Year, Angie Giannakodakis of Taverna appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Before then, the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts graduate spent several years immersing herself in the Sydney dining scene at some of the city’s best restaurants including Anason, Ester and Baba’s Place. During her three years at Ester, in particular, she refined her fire-cooking skills, spending most days coaxing flavour and texture from proteins, vegetables, fruit and bread using the Chippendale restaurant’s arched wood-fired oven. From there, she began hosting Ester pop-ups, which gave her the chance to flex her fire-cooking muscles while focusing on Turkish fare. This is where the Apollo team first took notice of her skills, culminating in her debut head chef role at Olympus when it opened in December 2024.

The food Kalvo cooks at Olympus reads resolutely Greek at first glance, and certainly it’s a cuisine that she cooks with great confidence. But look closely and you can find hints of her Turkish background, such as the sprinkles of chilli that top the restaurant’s take on an avgolemono soup. What diners don’t see, of course, is how she runs her kitchen alongside her team. It’s a behemoth of an operation; Olympus seats 200 people and is open for lunch and dinner every day. That’s a lot of restaurant to run, and a lot of steady-handed organisation needed to ensure it all goes smoothly.

According to former colleagues, Kalvo’s temperament and palate make her perfect for this role. She is, says Baba’s Place co-owner Jean-Paul El Tom, “obsessed with food, and always pushes for new flavour and technique.” Just as important, she’s endlessly composed under pressure. “She is level-headed and calm when faced with challenges,” he says. “And she never lets frustrations muddy a beautiful kitchen.” And that, for us, is a recipe for an outstanding restaurant.

Find all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Best New Talent Award here. To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

Past winners of the Best New Talent Award

• 2024: Mischa Tropp, Toddy Shop, Melbourne VIC
• 2023: Ollie Wong-Hee, Bar Heather, Bryon Bay NSW
• 2022: Mug Chen and Chia Wu, Muni, Willunga SA
• 2021: Jung Eun Chae, Chae, Brunswick VIC
• 2020: Due to COVID-19, a Hospitality Honours List was introduced in lieu of Restaurant Awards
• 2019: Alanna Sapwell, Arc Dining, Brisbane QLD
• 2018: Ali Currey-Voumard, The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery, New Norfolk TAS
• 2017: Josh Niland, Saint Peter, Sydney NSW
• 2016: Thi Le, Anchovy, Melbourne VIC
• 2015: Lennox Hasie, Firedoor, Sydney NSW
• 2014: Scott Huggins and Emma McCaskill, Penfolds Magill Estate, Adelaide SA
• 2013: Sam Ward, El Público, Perth WA
• 2012: Alejandro Cancino, Urbane, Brisbane QLD
• 2011: Luke Burgess, Garagistes, Hobart TAS
• 2010: Matt Stone, Greenhouse, Perth WA
• 2009: Ryan Squires, The Buffalo Club, Brisbane QLD

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Presenting the finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at The IXL Atrium, Henry Jones Art Hotel in Tasmania and in our September issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

Best New Restaurant

• August, Brisbane | QLD
• Lunetta, Red Hill | ACT
• Maison Bâtard, Melbourne | VIC
• Olympus Dining, Sydney | NSW
• Ondeen, Verdun | SA
• Scholé, Hobart | TAS

Best New Talent

• Audrey Shaw, Carnation Canteen | Melbourne, VIC
• Ozge Kalvo, Olympus Dining | Sydney, NSW
• Rodolfo Malinverni, Norté | Gold Coast, QLD
• Tom Campbell, Thelma | Piccadilly, SA

Bar of the Year

• +81 Aizome Bar, Brisbane | QLD
• Gigi, Melbourne | VIC
• Institut Polaire, Hobart | TAS
• The Wine Bar at The International, Sydney | NSW
  

Best Destination Dining

• De’sendent, Margaret River | WA
• Staġuni, Barossa | SA
• Tedesca Osteria, Red Hill | VIC
• The Agrarian Kitchen Restaurant, New Norfolk | TAS

Restaurant Personality of the Year

• Alice Tremayne, Corner 75 | Sydney, NSW
• Angie Giannakodakis, Taverna | Melbourne, VIC
• Benn and Mork Ratanakosol, Mínima | Canberra, ACT
• Sarah Hollway, Salopian Inn | McLaren Vale, SA
• Ryan de Villiers, Wildflower | Perth, WA

Readers’ Choice Icon Award

• Berowra Waters Inn, Sydney | NSW
• Du Fermier, Trentham | VIC
• E’cco Bistro, Brisbane | QLD
• Stillwater Restaurant, Launceston | TAS
• Vintners Bar & Grill, Angaston | SA

The post Meet the finalists for this year’s Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Presenting the finalists for Best New Restaurant

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at The IXL Atrium, Henry Jones Art Hotel in Tasmania and in our September issue. To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

August

Brisbane | QLD

Transforming a heritage-listed church into a restaurant was a massive undertaking for young couple Brad Cooper and Matilda Riek. Fortunately, their hard work has paid off – August is an absolute stunner. Polished timber floors and art hanging on VJ walls provide the perfect backdrop for Cooper’s European-focused cooking and Riek’s concise yet interesting drinks offering. The experience never feels stuffy, thanks to the team’s ability to make you feel comfortable. Pro tip: don’t miss Sunday lunch, featuring an ever-changing set menu and the option to BYO. It’s relaxed, unpretentious and easily one of the best Sunday services in town.

In short: A holistic experience.

Lunetta

Canberra | ACT

Canberra’s dining scene just keeps getting better and it now has a glamorous occasion restaurant worthy of the city’s power brokers. Lunetta – Italian for “little moon” – is housed in a modernist landmark which opened on Red Hill in 1963. Under new owners Tracy Keeley and sons, Matthew and Nick, it dazzles with a meticulous renovation by design firm ACME and a polished menu by executive chef Tristan Rebbettes (ex Cafe Paci and Saint Peter). A casual trattoria slings excellent pizza and pasta on the ground floor, while upstairs offers caviar, oysters and premium cuts cooked on a wood-fired grill fit for a celebration.

In short: A star is born in a modernist landmark building.

Maison Bâtard

Melbourne | VIC

Chris Lucas’ sumptuous, multi-level house of fun channels Paris by way of Melbourne, offering a little something for the well-heeled everyone. No matter which level you choose – the dreamy rooftop La Terrasse with its fully grown maple tree centrepiece and cigar balcony, the glamorous, velvet-upholstered gloom of the basement jazz club or the mirrored, wood-panelled, two-level dining room with its oyster bar and open kitchen – the mood is set to indulgence. That’s echoed in menus laden with oysters, caviar, lobster and top-quality beef, and a drinks list as careful with its cocktails as it is with the astonishingly deep wine offer. Hedonists unite!

In short: Parisian chic, Melbourne-style.

Olympus Dining

Sydney | NSW

It’s love at first bougainvillea blossom for everyone who steps through the doors of Olympus Dining, the newest project for the Apollo Group and the marquee restaurant of Sydney’s Wunderlich Lane precinct. The 50-year-old tree that sits in the centre of the indoor-outdoor space is a visual showstopper but the restaurant as a whole – the Dionysian energy, the Ouzo Colada, that cod roe taramasalata – made it somewhere the Gourmet Traveller team returned to on repeat all year. Greek food is a massive trend in Australia in 2025, and the torch at Olympus blazes brightest of all.

In short: Sydney loves Greek glamour.

Ondeen

Verdun | SA

Sustainability and provenance are priority at this new no-waste Adelaide Hills wonderland, which opened quietly, building a reputation for quality with the gentle grace of a butterfly emerging from the chrysalis. Could this finally earn culinary director Kane Pollard the standing ovation he deserves? Ingredients are 95 per cent South Australian, with Pollard and head chef Julian Peek utilising every part of each plant and animal, some of which is sourced from the rural property and garden surrounding the stylish rabbit warren of dining spaces. The dedicated Wine Room – a recent addition – is a nice touch, where boutique producers Artis, Jericho, Silver Lining and Turon Wines can be tasted prior to or post lunch.

In short: Hyper-local farm-to-plate dining with precision and heart.

Scholé

Hobart | TAS

It was always going to be big news for food fans when Luke Burgess, the chef who revolutionised Tasmania’s (and, arguably, Australia’s) dining landscape with Garagistes in 2010, opened Scholé this year. A timber-lined, 10-seat wine bar, Scholé expands on a distinctly Hobartian vernacular of small, intensely creative diners with laser-like focus on local produce. There’s Japanese influence here, notably in the design and on Tuesday nights when it transforms into a tachinomi (standing bar). It’s also present in the food, but there are other accents at play, including Italian, French and Scandinavian, making for a wondrous, delicious and distinctly Tasmanian dining adventure.

In short: Yet more texture for Hobart’s singular dining culture.

The post Finalists: Best New Restaurant appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Presenting the finalists for Bar of the Year

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at The IXL Atrium at Henry Jones Art Hotel in Tasmania and in our September issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

+81 Aizome Bar

Brisbane | QLD

Everyone seems to be heading to Japan, but at +81 Aizome Bar, Japan has come to Brisbane. The slick, indigo-blue space by designer Alexander Lotersztain nods to the intimate bars of Ginza. Take one of 10 seats and watch mixologist Tony Huang at work. He’s known for co-creating neo cocktails: complex drinks developed over five days and served like wine. You can opt for a tasting of all six, paired with a six-course menu that ends with an exceptional wagyu katsu sando. Every detail matters: even the ice is imported from Kanazawa – a vital element for the elegant, garnish-free cocktails.

In short: The art of kodawari.

Gigi

Melbourne | VIC

Serial restaurateurs Jason M Jones and Brahman Perera have made exuberantly designed, immersive dining experiences something of their trademark. No surprise, then, that their first stand-alone bar (opposite their heaving brasserie Entrecôte) sticks to the script with enthusiasm, humour and élan. Gigi is a flibbertigibbet of a bar, all ruched curtains and chandeliers, salon-hung art and velvet upholstery, but with plenty of substance to anchor the style. On-theme cocktails and a suitably solid Champagne list rub shoulders with excellent snacks (that chicken sandwich!), oysters and correctly handled French cheese, while late opening hours mean you never have to rush the nightcap.

In short: Flirtation Français.

Institut Polaire

Hobart | TAS

It wouldn’t be considered foolish to come to this cool-climate themed wine bar, decked out in ice-toned marble and leather, just for the seafood-forward food, but it’s understood by those in the know that Institut Polaire is also the purveyor of one of Tasmania’s premier Martinis. Emphatically chilled, served in a stainless-steel coupe and made with the owners’ own Süd Polaire gin, the Antarctic Dry Martini sets the tone for a scintillating collection of booze that includes other well-balanced versions of classic cocktails, excellent spirits, amaro and the elegant output from its wine label, Domaine Simha.

In short: Cool, in every sense of the word.

The Wine Bar at The International

Sydney | NSW

The mood has been high at the smart end of town since Martin Place emerged from its Metro chrysalis. The International is a perfect fit, and while the entire three-tier hospo hub sparkles hard, The Wine Bar shines brightest. Curated by formidable head sommelier Jacqueline Turner, the fluid wine list champions interesting makers from near and far, including around 60 by the glass. Meanwhile, food has more than a walk-on role, from small plates to a strong pasta play and fab steak frites. Sharp, mid-century décor across the indoor-outdoor space compels you to dress nicely, as do next-level touches like having your Nebbiolo poured from a handmade Brian Hirst decanter.

In short: Main character energy.

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Presenting the finalists for Best Destination Dining

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at The IXL Atrium, Henry Jones Art Hotel in Tasmania and in our September issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

De’sendent

Margaret River | WA

Margaret River gives good lunch. From farmhouse feasts and scenic fish-and-chippers to ace winery restaurants, the daytime food options are many. By dinnertime, pickings become notably slimmer, especially when it comes to places suitable for a big night out. Enter de’sendent: a 35-seat sanctuary in the heart of town where the cooking is as polished as the fit-out. Order à la carte if you must, but the tasting menu best embodies Evan Hayter’s thoughtful, kaiseki-like approach to showcasing southwest ingredients. Engaged service and eclectic drinks round off the package.

In short: The ultimate Margaret River dinner party.

Staġuni

Barossa | SA

Chef Clare Falzon travelled Australia, camping under the stars and forging connections with good producers before opening Staġuni in what was once Marananga Primary School. Reminders of its past remain, including a blackboard scrawled with boutique Barossa wines. The small but beautifully executed menu is inspired by Falzon’s Maltese roots and her Nan’s table piled with dishes made to share. The communal, no-fuss spread and setting are the epitome of hyper-local generosity and authenticity.

In short: Home-style Maltese dishes serving lessons in authenticity.

Tedesca Osteria

Red Hill | VIC

Anyone who’s experienced Tedesca Osteria‘s languid pace, the quiet mastery of owner-chef Brigitte Hafner’s produce-led cooking, the deliciousness of James Broadway’s drinks list and the relaxed beauty of the interior design and rural location would be prepared to travel a very long way to repeat the experience of dining at this destination. That Tedesca is only a little over an hour’s drive from Melbourne adds another layer to its allure, as do the biodynamic kitchen garden and bucolic views, making this decision-free, handwritten, five-course menu-centred experience the ideal long lunch.

In short: A regional masterpiece in a dreamy destination.

The Agrarian Kitchen Restaurant

New Norfolk | TAS

Last year’s GT Restaurant of the Year continues full steam ahead as one of Australia’s finest. Just a 40-minute drive from Hobart, The Agrarian Kitchen is an easy visit for all intrepid food explorers, bringing together a restaurant, incredible kitchen garden (the first course served in its greenhouse), cooking school and a kiosk for those after a more relaxed (and less pricey) experience. The combination of strictly local ingredients, a preserving and fermenting program and a wood-fired kitchen brings sensational results, sketching a brilliant portrait of Tasmanian cuisine right now.

In short: A love song of local produce and skilled cooking.

The post Finalists: Best Destination Dining appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Presenting the finalists for Restaurant Personality of the Year

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at The IXL Atrium, Henry Jones Art Hotel in Tasmania and in our September issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

Alice Tremayne | Corner 75

Sydney | NSW

There are many styles of restaurant service. Showy. Chummy. Formal. Each of them has their place, but there’s one style that can perhaps be described as the Goldilocks of them all: the understated, easy professionalism demonstrated by Alice Tremayne, restaurant manager at Corner 75. “She makes every guest feel genuinely welcome, but never with the need to be loud or overbearing,” says one former colleague. To customers at the Hungarian-Australian restaurant, she’s like your most dependable friend: the one who places your plate just so, catches the candle flame before it flickers too low,
and is always pleased when you walk through the door.

In short: A poised professional who fills a room with true warmth.

Angie Giannakodakis | Taverna

Melbourne | VIC

The Melbourne dining scene would be a poorer place without Angie Giannakodakis. She’s obviously done great things for Hellenic cuisine and culture in Melbourne, working in iconic Greek restaurants (The Press Club), owning others (Epocha, Elyros, Taverna), always present with wit, wisdom and brilliant advice about which Greek wine will go best with your fasolakia. But Giannakodakis is a consummate hospitality geek too, one who thinks deeply about the industry. Her measured championing of issues like the importance of business skills and staff mental health have been as effective as her efforts to raise public appreciation of assyrtiko.

In short: The love for hospitality is strong in this one.

Benn and Mork Ratanakosol | Minima

Canberra | ACT

Brothers Benn and Mork Ratanakosol grew up in the restaurant trade, with their parents running successful Thai diner Sukothai in Yarralumla for almost 20 years. They branched out with Kingston venue Morks – Mork in the kitchen and Benn on the floor – before opening sleek pan-Asian wine bar Mínima in 2024. Riffing on “third culture” cuisine balancing Thai and Chinese flavours with Euro techniques, they bring passion and experience to Canberra’s food scene. Beloved by the local hospo community, a visit to their 22-seater is like dropping into a friend’s place, warm and welcoming.

In short: Talented brothers make a brilliant double act.

Sarah Hollway | Salopian Inn

McLaren Vale | SA

After 38 years in hospitality, the last 11 at McLaren Vale’s Salopian Inn, Sarah Hollway hasn’t skipped a beat. Watching her work a room is a thing to behold, her superpower a well-honed ability to gauge the level of contact and banter each diner is willing to enjoy. If the answer is “high” expect copious local knowledge and belly laughs. Workplace satisfaction is written all over her face. “I love it that co-owners Karena Armstrong and Alex Marchetti are both so inspirational and I feel like part of a family,” she says. After a few hours in Holloway’s hands, diners do too.

In short: Decades of digging deep at McLaren Vale’s community institution.

Ryan de Villiers | Wildflower

Perth | WA

It’s a good thing Ryan de Villiers dropped out of his degree. It’s a good thing he spent a gap year in the UK and fell in love with hospitality, prompting a return to his homeland of Zimbabwe to attend hotel school. And it’s a good thing that he’s now in Perth overseeing Wildflower, Como The Treasury’s marquee dining room. A warm, knowledgeable and deeply engaging presence, de Villiers’ blend of professionalism and personality mirrors Wildflower’s polished, future-classic Australian cuisine. He clearly loves his work, as do diners (re)discovering a restaurant entering a promising new era.

In short: Good things come to those who wait.

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As the name suggests, this is a fine place to show a wine rack some love. Whether you’re chasing hard-to-find bottes from local vignerons – Trait Wines, Lillian and Battles are among the small-scale regional producers the shop champions – or benchmarks from further afield, the shelves and fridges here are all-killer, no-filler. (We also dig the raffish handwritten notes affixed to bottles: think bon mots along the lines of “get this before we drink it all” and “life’s not fair but at least we have Sancerre” and other examples of the joyous attitude group wine director Cyndal Petty has towards vino.) But the real fun happens when you keep your party in-house.

The light-filled, crisply designed space maximises that west coast sun and offers a variety of places to settle in. Couples perch side-by-side on stools in the window. Bigger groups gather around both sides of the marble counter. Winos will want to sit as close to cheery shop manager Hayley Ward as possible. Previously in charge of the Vasse Felix cellar door, Ward has the know-how and repartee to recommend the right drink for guests time after time, whether they’re thinking glass or bottle, traditional or new wave.

Polished pub cooking care of Brendan Pratt – another Vasse Felix alum – is another compelling reason to stick around. For the benefit of those in the shop, they’ve whittled down Busselton Pavilion’s main menu into a wine-sympathetic carte highlighting finger-friendly snacks (prawn toast, French onion dip) and meals-for-one (cheeseburger, roast chicken roll) that make sticking around for one more far too easy.

Weekly Friday night tastings and monthly wine club evenings offer further excuses to plot return visits. Admittedly, this contemporary enoteca isn’t the first place in Busselton to have tried championing wine. But thanks to some polished execution and Busso entering its new-tourism-hotspot era – the city now boasts a shiny new Hilton hotel and direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne – South West Wine Shop looks like it’s going to be around for both a good time as well as a long time.

South West Wine Shop

30 Kent St, Busselton WA

(08) 9752 6000

busseltonpavilion.com.au/south-west-wine-shop

Price guide $

Wheelchair access Yes

Open Drinks and Dinner Wed-Sat

Find all finalists for the Gourmet Traveller Wine Bar of the Year Award here. To see the full list of winners in this year’s Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Awards, head over here.

The post Gourmet Traveller’s Wine Bar of the Year: South West Wine Shop appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Presenting the finalists for Wine Bar of the Year

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at Catalina in Sydney and in our September issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

Bar Olo

Melbourne | VIC

There’s something almost radical about Bar Olo. At a time when the wine bars currently proliferating across Melbourne are mostly emphasising minimal intervention wines and food cooked over coals, this bar, from the owners of longstanding Scopri a few doors away, emphasises the classic and the old-school. From the flatteringly lit, wood-panelled room to a compact menu of classic Italian bites, and a wine list that accentuates traditional Italian winemaking, Bar Olo feels both retro and completely fresh.
In short: Old-school cool.

Havilah

Launceston | TAS

The wall of well-selected wines from near and far – available to take home or drink in – might be Havilah’s lure. Once the bijou bar’s moody lighting casts its spell, however, you’ll want to stay longer. Settle in for more wine, including bottles from owner Ricky Evans’ Havilah and Two Tonne Tasmania labels, and also for unfussy cooking that radiates rustic warmth and a killer vinyl soundtrack.
In short: Big things, small package.

Otherness

Angaston | SA

Hospitality veteran Grant Dickson dipped into the rare drops in his extensive personal cellar to open his bar in quaint Angaston. The addition of Sam Smith (former head chef at Fino Seppeltsfield) galvanised the stellar menu of informal bites. Dickson’s premium micro wine brand Otherness Wines shares this space and all bottles are available for dine in or takeaway. The result is a hangout frequented by Barossa winemaking royalty, eager for affordability.
In short: Barossa and beyond.

Poly

Sydney | NSW

“Minimalist” may be the byword at Poly, if the aesthetic or degree of intervention in the consciously farmed wines are anything to go by. Yet anyone who’s pulled up 
a pew at Mat Lindsay’s free-wheeling follow-up to Ester knows its pleasures 
are well and truly of the maximalist kind. Here, the full-on flavours from the hearth-powered kitchen are met by whatever’s in the glass – something skinsy perhaps, or maybe oxidative, 
but always on song.
In short: A natural choice.

South West Wine Shop

Busselton | WA

For a region known for making brilliant wine, south-west WA has a surprising lack of brilliant wine bars. This airy enoteca attached to Busselton Pavilion addresses that imbalance. Wines on offer run from local bottlings to international standouts are talked up by gracious wine pro Hayley Ward, who leads the charge. Primo snacks and meals-for-one make staying for one more glass far too easy.
In short: The pub bottle shop, reimagined

11e Cave

Canberra | ACT

Named for Paris’ grungy-chic 11th arrondissement, this basement wine bar behind an unmarked red door channels the spirit of Parisian cellar bars without succumbing to cliché. The smart wine list, on-theme cocktails and solid snack menu is as much about new Canberra as it is about Old World with the low-ceilinged, candle-lit room creating a clandestine vibe that suggests the ACT, too, is for lovers.
In short: A French love affair.

The post Finalists: Wine Bar of the Year appeared first on Gourmet Traveller.

Presenting the finalists for our Readers’ Choice Icon Award

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at Catalina in Sydney and in our September issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

Attica

Ripponlea | VIC

Attica is benchmark cooking. It’s the place to book to show off Australian cuisine to overseas guests, while expanding your own knowledge and understanding of native ingredients and the landscape from whence they come. World-renowned for his inventive take on modern Australian fare, New Zealand-born Ben Shewry champions native flora and fauna to craft seasonal dishes that are as ambitious as they are delicious.

Lake House

Daylesford | VIC

Destination dining at its best, Lake House harnesses the finest seasonal produce for unpretentious and well-executed fare. Set against the picturesque backdrop of Lake Daylesford, Alla Wolf-Tasker’s iconic regional restaurant remains as elegant and enticing as ever as it celebrates 40 years of excellence this September.

Quay

Sydney | NSW

When it comes to fine dining, Quay is the jewel in Sydney’s harbourfront crown. Led by executive chef Peter Gilmore, this culinary diamond is backlit by panoramic harbour views, taking in both the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. With a menu that celebrates the Australian landscape and centres premium produce at its heart, Quay can always be counted on to sparkle.

Rick Shores

Burleigh Heads | QLD

If there was a prize for the best surf views in Australian dining, Rick Shores would take first place. It’s the reason a late-lunch booking at this Burleigh Heads icon is one of the most coveted in the country. But Rick Shores is more than just the view; since opening in 2016, it has set the gold standard for Gold Coast dining, delivering an impressive raft of inventive, meticulously finessed share dishes. It’s Australian dining to a tee.

Sean’s

Sydney | NSW

Like sitting down to a long lunch at a friend’s house overlooking Bondi Beach, only better. That’s what Sean’s is all about and the reason it remains one of Sydney’s most in-demand bookings even after 30 years. The home-style restaurant is ruled by locally sourced produce with a seasonal menu that changes daily and is gloriously unfussy. Prepare to settle in.

Vasse Felix Restaurant

Margaret River | WA

This iconic restaurant – located at Margaret River’s founding winery and overlooking some of the region’s original vines – is one of WA’s finest dining destinations. The considered menu is designed to showcase the winery’s sublime collection of vintage and contemporary drops. The kitchen maintains the progressive momentum with detailed dishes big on deliciousness, while the floor team consistently delivers both knowledge and charm.

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The recent decision to close (or, at least, put into storage) her loved and lauded Melbourne restaurant Anchovy is a great example of Le’s approach. Opened in 2015 with her partner Jia-Yen Lee, Anchovy immediately hit a nerve with Melbourne diners. A smell-of-an-oily rag operation with food billed as “Asian, Australian, a little bit in between”, Anchovy had moments that felt like the most original fine dining with its deft blend of influences: Le’s childhood growing up in Sydney’s western suburbs, her Vietnamese-Chinese heritage, her work with chefs like Christine Manfield and Andrew McConnell. It was, as she has said, fusion food but fusion in terms of fusing memories, experience and tradition.

Pressing pause on Anchovy was partly about finding a more intimate space better suited to how Le wants to express Vietnamese cooking into the future, but it was also pandemic-influenced, that inevitable mix of exhaustion and re-evaluation. Also, a pandemic side hustle of selling takeaway khao jee pâté (the Cambodian cousin of bánh mì) not only became one of Melbourne lockdown’s greatest hits but begat a permanent bánh mì shop, Ca Com, where the concept of what a bánh mì in Melbourne can be was pushed and expanded with startlingly good results. It also sparked vital conversation around why this Vietnamese classic is expected to be ridiculously cheap, regardless of the labour and quality of the ingredients involved.

Highlighting Le’s work ethic and constantly engaged approach, the former Anchovy space is now a Laotian restaurant called Jeow, with a menu of spicy funky salads, curries and stews. Again, it’s inspired by Le’s childhood experiences of eating in suburban Laotian restaurants. Again, it brings her particularly balanced, nuanced approach that inevitably results in thrilling flavours. It’s there for now but there’s more to come too. It always does with a chef of this calibre. We can’t wait.

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You never really expect anything less than a gold medal performance from Perry but with Margaret he raised the stakes. This is his first solo-owned restaurant in a decades-long career. He named it for his mother and has his family working alongside him. It’s personal, like an autobiography in restaurant form, a sort of high-wire act, particularly for someone like Perry who, for some, is as well-known for his trademark ponytail and regular TV appearances, as he is for his restaurants. Spoiler alert: he’s nailed it.

Being a cheerleader for great ingredients and a supportive friend to those who provide them has paid off in spades at Margaret. The lengthy menu – a Perry trademark that’s hell on the decision-phobic – is littered with long-time collaborators like Cobram Estate (who produce the gorgeous yolk-yellow olive oil made exclusively for Margaret) and wagyu from David Blackmore. But seafood’s the main event at Margaret and those producers get Beyoncé-style single-name treatment. And so we get “Bruce’s Southern garfish” (from renowned fisherman Bruce Collis) or bigeye tuna from Pav and Heidi (from Walker Seafoods). Again it feels personal, like he’s earned the right to name-drop.

The menu is also a victory lap for Perry’s influences, seamlessly combining pearl meat sashimi, house-made focaccia, spicy prawn and pork sausages, wood-grilled fish simply dressed in lemon, salt and oil and the fabulous, signature Memories of a Mirabelle tart.

But Margaret is the whole package. The dining room, comfortable and glamorous without being flashy, is a lovely place to spend some time, both during leaf-dappled daylight and under flattering downlighting at night. The wine list is in lockstep with the ambitions of the food – beautifully made, quality producers, nothing too off-piste but always interesting with a surprisingly democratic price range – and service hits the sweet spot between casual and efficient. Margaret is a fresh delight and proof that, when it comes to Neil Perry, we love his new stuff as much as his old stuff.

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It’s the view that stops you there. Huge windows face north, framing lush farmland, the cliffs of Hellfire Bluff and then Maria Island in the distance. It’s breathtaking, all-enveloping and the perfect backdrop for chef-owner Tim Hardy’s quintessentially Tasmanian cuisine. With a focus on local and foraged ingredients, supplemented by their own vegetables, Van Bone offers guests dishes that are often surprising and always delicious. The 14-course menu changes regularly and each course is explained by either Hardy or restaurant manager-owner Laura Stucken (Hardy’s fiancée). It could include fatty pork jowl sliced paper thin and served with coffee kombucha, jalapeños from the garden drenched with apple cider vinegar Hardy made five years ago with seasoning provided by salt made from local seawater, collected by the pair on their days off. Hardy’s background at regional restaurants including Brae, The Lake House and Garagistes has informed his passion for hyper-local and seasonal food, all of which is cooked over the open kitchen’s wood-fire oven and grill.

Dining tables of torched Tasmanian oak were created by Launceston furniture designer Simon Ancher and each of the 18 seats has an individual drawer of vintage cutlery to be used throughout the meal. Named for Van Diemens Land and a local surf break, the restaurant was designed by Stucken, an interior architect, and Hardy (a keen surfer) helped build it, along with the extensive permaculture vegetable garden and native landscaping (Stucken suggests a stroll around the property before dessert). It’s a long way to go for lunch, but every carefully considered element creates a truly memorable meal in a winning destination.

Van Bone

357 Marion Bay Rd, Bream Creek, Tas

vanbone.com.au

Chef Timothy Hardy

Price guide $$$

Bookings Essential

Wheelchair access Yes

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These two have the hospitality nous to back up their vision. Previously, Chen trained in Paris where she worked at Restaurant AT with chef Atsushi Tanaka and sommelier Lulie Kaori Tanaka (now Muni’s Japan-based business partner and in charge of selecting its international wines). She later honed her skills at Melbourne’s Vue de Monde and McLaren Vale’s The Salopian Inn. Meanwhile, Wu worked magic at d’Arenberg Cube Restaurant, Fino Vino and The Little Rickshaw. “We were pumped when we opened Muni because we’d spent 10 months setting up the venue,” says Wu. “As chefs, we were trained to put things together on a plate but this was on a bigger scale; and for the whole experience including food, drinks, the interior, furniture, lights, crockery and our people.”

The fit-out is all class. Adelaide’s Sans-Arc Studio used concrete, steel and timber to transform the long, narrow bar and dining space (previously a vacant office space). An L-shaped bar offers a view of the kitchen where delicate dishes are created. What started as a small but beautifully executed Taiwanese-inspired snack list, now includes an 11-course set dining menu made with top-notch ingredients such as Phoenix wagyu and Fleurieu Peninsula’s Choice Mushrooms. Dishes such as Taipei-style cold noodles are household favourites from their homeland.

“At the beginning we mainly thought about serving what we really like to eat and drink but then we realised that a lot of what we do here is not so usual or comfortable for a lot of guests,” says Wu. “Working out how to deliver that unique service and experience became our most important task. As a host, it is our job to make people feel welcome no matter what food or beverage we are serving.”

Unicorn local wines and international natty gems enhance the thrill factor. Easing some of McLaren Vale’s more traditional residents into the world of natural wines hasn’t been easy but in their own quiet way, these two are changing the way locals eat and drink. “We love that everything we planned in detail has finally come together coherently,” says Wu.

Muni

2/3 High Street, Willunga, SA

munirestaurant.com

Chefs: Mug Chen and Chia Wu

Opening hours: Friday-Saturday dinner, Sunday lunch.

Price guide: $$

Bookings: Essential

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At a time when everything was uncertain and chaotic, Valent brought her journalist skills into play. She became an information portal for the hospitality industry and for hospitality workers, including the many foreign workers who were on visas and so cut adrift. She waded through the daily-shifting and often contradictory information coming from governments about what was and was not available to workers and restaurants in terms of financial assistance, what was happening with practicalities like density limits and mask mandates and kept that stream of information regularly updated.

Then there was her podcast, Dirty Linen, that she started during Melbourne’s first lockdown, in order to “cover the issues the hospitality industry finds hard to share in public”. The podcast, which is still going, consisted mostly of interviews with people in the industry – everybody from restaurateurs and chefs to producers, writers, foreign workers and international students. It was filled with a lot of practical information but it also brought home just how amazingly diverse the industry is and how many thoughtful people work in it. It also shone a light on how many moving parts go into every food and drink-related business, from day-to-day issues of sourcing staff and produce to issues around mental and physical health and wellbeing.

The reason Dani Valent started Dirty Linen was so “people could feel less alone and could see themselves in other people’s stories”.

By communicating some certainty on a regular basis – whether that was the latest news on how to ventilate a restaurant properly, where hospo workers unable to access JobKeeper could get themselves a free feed (often from other restaurants, including the soup kitchen Valent worked on with Attica’s Ben Shewry) or all the latest in restaurant pivoting and side-hustling – Valent made an immense contribution to the wellbeing of the hospitality industry. And we think that kind of empathetic contribution is nothing short of outstanding.

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Martinez has been instrumental in popularising plant-based eating in Australia. This year, ever the pioneer, she combined her two businesses – Smith & Daughters and Smith & Deli – under one roof in the fashionable inner Melbourne suburb Collingwood, making it the biggest, best-looking vegan hub in the country. It overhauled perceptions of what a vegan restaurant can be with a sharp, dark and handsome aesthetic and a menu that offers plant-based versions of everything from spaghetti carbonara and chicken schnitzel to deli meats, cheese and doughnuts. She’s also the executive chef (with chef Ian Curley) at Lona Misa, the signature restaurant at Ovolo South Yarra that offers vegan and vegetarian dishes, has written three mega-selling vegan cookbooks (with a fourth on the way) and is a constant at food festivals, music festivals, conferences and charity events and makes regular appearances on television and in print. Just reading her CV can be a little exhausting.

Perhaps the best way that Martinez has been able to bridge the vegan-omnivore divide is that she is not a vegan herself. Though she eats very little meat – her plant-based eating passion is fuelled by the damage untrammelled meat-consumption can cause the environment – she hasn’t ditched it altogether because it helps her create vegan versions of meaty dishes. Her method when creating a new recipe is to first cook the traditional version and then adjust and tweak flavours until the vegan recipe is as close as it can possibly be to the original. As the surprised look on many a hard-core carnivore’s faces when they taste Martinez’s plant-based meatballs or calamari or risotto alla Milanese attests, her palate is one of the finest around.

Shannon Martinez’s talents as a chef would always have allowed her to go a long way in her chosen profession but her skills as a fine and effective communicator, skills that have allowed her to overhaul attitudes to veganism and create a little harmony in the often-fraught relationship between vegans and non-vegans, are what make her truly remarkable.

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Of course, lineage helps. When Paloma’s owners chef Alex Munoz Labart and wife Karla kicked off nearby Restaurant Labart in 2018, it was hailed not just for its refined, produce-forward, mod bistro-style fare, but also for its adventurous largely minimal intervention wine list.

Paloma, which opened last November, continues the charge. Conceived originally as a neighbourhood bar, the Munoz Labarts hoped the tiny tenancy on bustling James Street would become a groovy spot where locals could congregate, and a cool setting for Labart diners in search of well-considered pre and post drinks.

But it’s fair to say, it’s evolved into something more significant. In months it’s become a destination which, like Labart, is helping reshape tired assumptions about the Gold Coast. If you’re after dinner, Labart remains the best go-to. But Paloma’s snacks will give you compelling reasons to linger longer while you explore just one more glass. It’s no disrespect to Paloma’s impressive nature-friendly drinks roundup to say the bar’s small plates give these mainly small-batch choices a run for their money – particularly when Munoz Labart personally mans the pans.

The food options aren’t overly tricky. Simply listed on a single page, they morph regularly. It’s an offer anchored by traditional favourites – perhaps great oysters with a sharp mignonette dressing, beef tartare, a juicy steak frites with peppercorn sauce, the perfectly proportioned La burger or occasionally, a lobster sandwich. Classic snacks-with-a-twist ensure interest levels stay high, supple folds of jamon Iberico come out dialled up with brightly pickled pimenta de bico, or there’s a Labart carry over – creamy burrata with strawberry, cucumber and basil oil. A recent standout addition is the buttery, deeply savoury caramelised onion tart, dished with an umami-boosting tonnato sauce and olives. In general? Expect a tasty, textural, fat, salt and umami party that shows off Paloma’s nuanced list to advantage.

The cocktail list is tight – just five house drinks, with classics on request. By the glass wine choices are equally strategic – perhaps Flora, a riesling blend from Austrian natural maker Michael Gindl, or a low-fi skin-contact trebbiano by Umbria’s Cantino Margò. Or maybe a Slovenian barbera or a glass of Bodegas Exopto’s easy drinking Rioja. Going by the bottle? A page of pet-nats and another swag of chilled reds present the perfect matches to Paloma’s elevated coastal fun times vibe.

Housed in a long, slender tenancy that subtly evokes the southern Mediterranean, the floor team under bar managers Elisa Rodrigues and James Burrell is as efficient as it’s friendly and welcoming. The venue’s no-booking policy is predictably smart. It may mean you have to take a walk or two around the block before securing a seat. But it will be worth the wait.

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“There’s no question that Restaurant Botanic is a bravura performance,” says Gourmet Traveller editor Joanna Hunkin. “It combines fun and adventure with polish and poise. Chef Justin James doesn’t attempt perfection but rather embraces the beauty of irregularity and nature, making the most of the restaurant’s iconic location and using the garden’s bounty to create something uniquely of its place.”

The country’s leading chefs and restaurant personalities came together to celebrate the annual awards, which are Australia’s longest-running restaurant awards and a highlight of the hospitality calendar.

Neil Perry, Shannon Martinez, Ben Shewry, Brigitte Haffner, and Andrew McConnell were amongst the top chefs to attend the event, which marked the first time the awards have been announced in person, following more than two years of Covid restrictions and disruptions.

It was a night of double celebration for Perry, whose Double Bay diner Margaret was named both Best New Restaurant and the NSW state winner of Restaurant of the Year.

Tasmania claimed Best Destination Dining for Van Bone in Marion Bay, while Hobart’s Fico was named the state winner.

In South Australia, Restaurant Botanic claimed both the state prize and was named Restaurant of the Year, while the creative duo behind Willunga wine bar Muni – Mug Chen and Chia Wu – were named Best New Talent.

From Victoria, Thi Le was voted Chef of the Year in the night’s only peer-voted category, while Shannon Martinez was named Restaurant Personality of Year.

Food writer and industry advocate Dani Valent was honoured for her Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality, and Tedesca Osteria was named the state winner for the second year in a row.

Gold Coast wine bar Paloma was singled out as the Wine Bar of the Year, while Essa was awarded the state prize for Queensland.

Rounding out the state winners, Pilot was named ACT’s best restaurant for a second year running, while Perth’s Lulu La Delizia took out the honour for Western Australia.

Full profiles of all the winners, along with the full 2023 Restaurant Guide, feature in the October issue of Gourmet Traveller, on sale now.

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

RESTAURANT BOTANIC, Adelaide, SA

STATE WINNERS

ACT: PILOT, Canberra

NSW: MARGARET, Sydney

Qld: ESSA, Brisbane

SA: RESTAURANT BOTANIC, Adelaide

Tas: FICO, Hobart

Vic: TEDESCA OSTERIA, Red Hill

WA: LULU LA DELIZIA, Perth

CHEF OF THE YEAR

THI LE

Ca Com & Jeow, Melbourne, Vic

Presented by PorkStar

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

MARGARET, Sydney, NSW

Presented by PorkStar

BEST NEW TALENT

MUG CHEN & CHIA WU

Muni, Willunga, SA

Presented by Furi

BEST DESTINATION DINING

VAN BONE, Marion Bay, Tas

Presented by Oceania Cruises

WINE BAR OF THE YEAR

PALOMA, Burleigh Heads, Qld

RESTAURANT PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

SHANNON MARTINEZ

Smith & Daughters, Melbourne, Vic

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO HOSPITALITY

DANI VALENT

Presented by Winning Appliances

Read about the year in dining here and view our full 2023 Restaurant Guide here.

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Justin James, the former Vue de Monde head chef who took the reins at Adelaide’s Restaurant Botanic in 2021, doesn’t forget. His 20-something “course” menu (many of the courses being single-bite) brings new life to the puffed old trope of restaurant meal as journey in a way that makes dining here feel more adventure, less forced march.

The key is unity of vision. Botanic is in the middle of Adelaide’s rightly adored Botanic Garden and James has been given full access to that bounty. This means there are plenty of native plants involved – hot towels are scented with anise myrtle, Murray cod is wrapped in paperbark, Davidson plum lands as sorbet wrapped in fruit leather with lemon balm – but the garden also provides plants from far-flung locales so you get makrut leaves teamed with baby abalone or marron claw matched with shisho leaf. Like the beautiful mix of natural chaos and imposed order in the surrounding gardens, James never succumbs to attempting perfection on the plate. He embraces the beauty of irregularity. Garnishes are not always uniformly shaped, skewers are twisted sticks, plates land surrounded by pine branches and snacks are hidden in loosely tied bunches of foliage.At times it feels a little mysterious and witchy, in the best possible way.

The room shies away from being too poised and perfect too, all undressed tables and windows free of drapery to take full advantage of the garden view. It’s comfortable and relaxed, the atmosphere assisted by a soundtrack that swings from classic soul to Pink Floyd to REM. Service follows the template too, never missing a beat but always happy to go off script and chat, so that you might feel like you’ve made a new friend by the end of the four-hour relationship.

Gorgeous moments of luxury – a slowly scrambled emu egg served in the shell, thrillingly brilliant roasted and honey-glazed duck, sublime oysters topped with green ants – balance the rusticity and the skill level of the cooking never wavers.

Botanic is a bravura performance, worthy of sustained applause. We’re happy to lead the ovation.

Restaurant Botanic

Plane Tree Dr, Adelaide, SA

(08) 8223 3526

restaurantbotanic.com.au

Chef Justin James

Price guide $$$$

Bookings Recommended

Wheelchair access Yes

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This year, as we announce our 2023 finalists, the industry is buzzing. Tourists are back, dining rooms are full, and new openings continue to raise the bar and prove that the Australian dining is some of the most dynamic and creative in the world.

That’s not to downplay the ongoing struggles plaguing the industry – from staff shortages and surging cancellation rates to the rising cost of produce – but compared to the state of the industry last year, things are much brighter.

And so, it is our great pleasure to celebrate the industry this month and single out those that are flying high and bringing joy to diners across Australia.

Until then, congratulations to all our finalists!

— Joanna Hunkin, editor, Gourmet Traveller

Words by Fiona Donnelly, Michael Harden, Joanna Hunkin, Tristan Lutze, Tory Shepherd, Katie Spain & Max Veenhuyzen

Presenting the finalists in the Gourmet Traveller 2023 Restaurant Awards.

Next month, we will reveal our winners and the full guide to Australia’s best restaurants at a glamorous gala evening at Shell House in Sydney and in our October issue.

To make sure you receive a copy, delivered to your door, subscribe now at magshop.com.au.

And the nominees are…

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

ARKHÉ | Adelaide, SA

Chef Jake Kellie is fuelled by fire and since his new baby Arkhé opened in November, he’s worked open flame magic in the Adelaide suburb of Norwood. A stellar team keeps the cogs turning (and devoted lunch and dinner regulars returning). From front of house to sommeliers and the bustling kitchen – the camaraderie is palpable. This restaurant exudes energy; best observed from a perch overlooking the kitchen. It is slick, beautifully designed, and edgy but the welcome is always as warm as the wood-burning oven and elevation grills.

In short: So hot right now.

DI STASIO CARLTON | Melbourne, Vic

Rinaldo Di Stasio and Mallory Wall’s Carlton outpost is a masterclass in how to do a restaurant right. A series of rooms exuberantly dominated with large-scale Reko Rennie art, a gravelled garden with an imported vintage Roman fountain, big-flavoured Italian food that runs the gamut from deliacte anchovies to fior di latte soft-serve, fried tripe to lobster pizza. Razor-sharp attention to detail, be it service or the correct temperature of the Martini, make every meal here feel like a party.

In short: Guaranteed good times.

FRUI MOMENTO | Margaret River, WA

When word got out that gun Margaret River chef Seth James had left Wills Domain to link up with winemaking phenom Larry Cherubino, expectations were high. In Frui Momento, the duo has delivered on this not-inconsiderable promise with James’s detailed, confident food finding a foil in Cherubino’s expressive wines as well as a cellar studded with international benchmarks. A new breed of cellar door restaurant.

In short: Enjoy the moment.

GRILL AMERICANO | Melbourne, Vic

The latest restaurant in Chris Lucas’s ever-increasing stable is an absolute cracker. Taking its cues from big (New York) city Italian grills, Grill Americano is big and brash in all the right ways – from precision-tooled cocktails and expensive, branded steaks to embroidered napkins and the lush comfort of royal blue bar stools at the white marble bar. It’s an exciting room to dine in and one where you’ll likely give the credit card a nudge on aged Barolo or aged Reggiano and feel right doing it.

In short: Beautifully retooled ’80s glam.

LANA | Sydney, NSW

It’s been the year of the dining precinct but none does quite it as well as Circular Quay’s multi-level Hinchcliff House, where fine-diner Lana sits as the sparkling pink diamond in the historic wool store’s crown. She may not have received the same fanfare as other new openings but has proven a dark horse, thanks to her glamorous dining room, playful (yet whip-smart) service and a snack-heavy menu full of bold, unexpected flavours. Bonus points for offering one of the best value fine-dining menus in Sydney.

In short: Flirty and fabulous.

MARGARET | Sydney, NSW

Neil Perry’s decades of supporting and encouraging artisan producers have come home to roost at Margaret. Superb produce – particularly astonishingly good seafood – combines with the skill and respect it deserves on a menu that encapsulates Perry’s cooking lodestars, be that a Thai-style crab salad, simply grilled King George whiting or a perfectly dressed salad. The room, filled by day with light dappled through leaves, is casually, expensively elegant, the perfect backdrop for one of Australia’s living treasures at the peak of his powers.

In short: Just go.

ONZIEME | Canberra, ACT

Onzieme is less a wine bar with food than a food bar with an exceptional wine offering. Chef-owner Louis Couttoupes’s snacky, shareable menu built around local goodies draws inspiration far more broadly than the venue’s Parisian name might suggest, his tenure at Bar Rochford honing his ability to design the kind of food that’s best served with a good drop. And while the wine list helpfully separates “fun” whites and reds from the “classic” drops, everything else about Onzieme is pure fun.

In short: Paris meets Canberra.

PEPPINA | Hobart, Tas

In a town known better for small, idiosyncratic diners, Peppina, the signature restaurant at Hobart’s swanky new hotel The Tasman, is an anomaly. A large beautiful space making the most of its historic sandstone bones, Peppina channels a big city hotel restaurant, but with chef Massimo Mele at the helm, the menu keeps the focus on Tasmania’s small and artisan producers, skilfully interpreting them in meticulously cooked Italian-leaning dishes.

In short: Big is beautiful.

SHELL HOUSE DINING ROOM & TERRACE | Sydney, NSW

It may be shallow to judge a venue by its appearance but you’ll be forgiven for wanting to wallow in the beauty of the Dining Room at Shell House, which easily joins the ranks of the country’s best dressed restaurants. A kitchen driven by gun-duo Joel Bickford and Aaron Ward (who left Aria and Sixpenny respectively to take on the decadent diner) brings substance to the stylish equation, along with an all-star line up of floor staff, including top sommelier Alex Kirkwood.

In short: A thing of beauty.

BEST DESTINATION DINING

ARIMIA ESTATE | Wilyabrup, WA

This off-grid, organically certified property in the Margaret River scrub has long been a touchstone for farm-to-plate eating. Thanks to some sharp HR work and menu fine-tuning, Arimia feels like an outfit in career-best form. At the very least it certainly tastes that way: chef Evan Hayter’s knack for showcasing pristine southwest ingredients in thrilling ways feels more assured than ever and reinforces Arimia’s status as must-do dining.

In short: Farmhouse dining, reimagined.

BEACH | Byron Bay

From its sun-kissed position atop the dunes framing Clarkes Beach, this bright, breezy bungalow elevates the classic “seafood by the beach” experience while avoiding the too-often-haughty trappings of seaside dining. Chef Alanna Sapwell builds Beach’s casual but serious menu around superlative local produce, be it a selection of oysters bathing in mandarin juice, or a coil of pappardelle caught in a wave of buttery crab and bottarga. With a zippy list of cocktails and wines and an uninterrupted coastal view, Beach is transportingly true to its name.

In short: Refined dining soundtracked by waves.

BLUME | Boonah

The Scenic Rim is one of Queensland’s most beautiful food bowls. Its rich soils nurture everything from heirloom tomatoes and finger

limes to Jurassic quail. Jack Stuart (ex-head chef Gauge, Brisbane) gambled everything to open Blume and give lucky diners a taste

of this abundance, and at his thoughtful 20-seater you can savour it all. The pride of place is evident in everything from his chewy sourdough slathered with butter made from rich Tommerup’s Dairy cream, to slices of juicy house chorizo and way beyond. It’s country hospitality, delivered with a polished urban edge.

In short: Putting the “ooh ahh” into Boonah.

CHAUNCY | Heathcote, Vic

The current Australian passion for traditional French dining gets one of its best expressions at Chauncy where sommelier Tess Murray and chef Louis Naepels channel the spirit of French provincial cooking in a heritage-listed sandstone building on Heathcote’s main street. Utilising small, local producers – cheesemakers, dairy producers, pig farmers, vegetable growers – in service of a set-course menu that might include gougère, classic pork terrine and crème brûlée, Chauncy beautifully evokes a sense of place, both here and there.

In short: Heathcote en Provence.

MT LOFTY RANGES VINEYARD | Adelaide Hills, SA

Sharon Pearson and Garry Sweeney’s business motto is “transform or die” and it has served them well since moving from Sydney to establish their Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard wine brand. What started as a tin shed is now a beautifully designed cellar door and restaurant with one of the best views in the state (the split-level patio is particularly stunning when the weather is warm). Head chef Jesse White sources ingredients locally (some from the property itself) and restaurant manager Chloe Rickaby and the small but carefully curated team serve lunch and the occasional Friday night dinner service with regional warmth and gusto.

In short: Adelaide Hills-meets-Tuscany.

VAN BONE | Marion Bay, Tas

There’s no “just driving past and saw your light on” with Van Bone. This is true destination dining where the restaurant is the sole reason for the hour’s drive from Hobart. Laura Stucken and Tim Hardy handle the pressure of great expectations impeccably at their small jewel of a restaurant with its remarkable east coast views and similarly impressive multi-course menu entirely influenced by the produce in their own gardens and from the small producers who live nearby.

In short: Worth the trip.

BEST NEW TALENT

ALEX WONG | Lana, NSW

The original pitch pegged Lana as a seafood-focused Italian fine-diner. But given the freedom to explore, head chef Alex Wong turned Lana’s menu into a far more intriguing proposition, peppering Italian staples with a diverse range of flavours. Take for instance, his siu mai-inspired cappelletti, filled with pork and prawn and served in an umami-packed dashi. Wong’s snack game is so strong, it’s spawned its own menu, Lana’s Play List. And like all the best hits, you’ll want to keep these on repeat.

In short: Hit maker.

DENNIS YONG | Parcs, Vic

When Dennis Yong was contemplating a career change while working at Sunda, restaurateur Adi Halim (owner of Sunda, Aru and The Windsor) offered him his own restaurant where he could focus on his dual passions: sustainable dining and fermentation. It was inspired casting with Yong having the talent and imagination to turn a worthy cause into an outstandingly delicious one. Repurposing ingredients that would otherwise be headed for the bin, Yong creates unique flavours and a highly original dining experience.

In short: Tasty waste.

ETHAN FERRIS | Restaurant Labart, Qld

Celebrated Gold Coaster Labart hadn’t long opened when recently qualified chef Ethan Ferris joined in 2018. But the recruit’s potential was swiftly recognised. Three years on, when owners Alex Munoz Labart and wife Karla began developing fresh projects, Ferris was handpicked to step up and head Labart’s kitchen. Now while Munoz Labart oversees Paloma, Labart’s funky drinks-focused sibling (see Best Wine Bar finalists), Ferris upholds the highest of standards at understated Labart. A steep curve for a quiet achiever who’s just 26.

In short: The future looks bright.

ELIZABETH MITCHELL | Alberto’s Lounge, NSW

It’s been a big two years for Elizabeth Mitchell. In the wake of 2020’s lockdown restrictions, she launched a series of pop-up dinner parties, Ten Hats, alongside three friends. The sellout events quickly became some of Sydney’s hottest tickets, serving fun updates on old classics in unexpected locations. But it was her step up to head chef at Alberto’s Lounge earlier this year that has turned heads. Humble yet refined, Mitchell’s cooking has reinvigorated the inner-city trattoria while remaining true to the venue’s original spirit.

In short: Connecting past and present.

HELLY RAICHURA | Enter via Laundry, Vic

Helly Raichura’s hospitality voyage is hardly typical. Her passion for cooking, fostered at home in India, was turbo-charged after moving to Australia and encountering the limited scope of Indian food. She opened Enter via Laundry in her house with a waitlist in the thousands, and did things her way, bringing fine dining and Australian native ingredients to traditional Indian dishes. No longer in her house, EVL still has an atypical entrance and Raichura continues to make it unique.

In short: Go your own way.

MUG CHEN & CHIA WU | Muni, SA

When Taiwanese chefs Mug Chen and Chia Wu opened their natural wine bar and restaurant in Willunga in late 2021, it shook things up in the quaint town. Previously, Chen trained in Paris and later honed her skills at Melbourne’s Vue de Monde and McLaren Vale’s The Salopian Inn. Meanwhile, Wu hit the tools at d’Arenberg Cube Restaurant, Fino Vino and The Little Rickshaw. Starting Muni was a bold move. Their beautifully executed Taiwanese-inspired snacks, 11-course set dining menu, and challenging drinks menu is an exciting addition to the wine region.

In short: Inspired risk takers.

ROHAN PARK | Old Young’s Kitchen, WA

During high school, Rohan Park spent a year boarding in the Swan Valley. After cooking his way through the state, he’s back and stationed at Old Young’s Kitchen, an easy-going distillery restaurant making Indigenous flavours accessible to all. From cured kingfish sharpened with finger lime and pepperberry to kangaroo tartare with youlk and a crocodile garum, Park’s cooking prioritises deliciousness and supporting First Nations growers and communities.

In short: Connecting past and present.

RESTAURANT PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

ANDY CLAPPIS | Our Place at Willunga Hill, SA

Smiles don’t get wider, nor greetings more genuine than those delivered by Andy Clappis when visitors arrive at his hilltop McLaren Vale restaurant. Demand for his hearty Sunday Italian lunches (and his charisma) is fierce. Andy’s 89-year-old father Enzo Clappis is always nearby. Hospitality legend Enzo and his late wife Sonia arrived in Australia in 1951 after fleeing Europe as post-war refugees. They went on to pave the way in Italian dining in South Australia. When he’s not helping in the kitchen, Enzo proudly watches his son work the crowd. His whole roast pig and coveted cannoli are served with a side of drama.

In short: From Italy, with love.

ELISE JACOBSEN | Lulu La Delizia, WA

Bucatini. Gramigna. Corzetti: Lulu’s pastas are everywhere on Instagram. But what those little squares can’t capture

is the buzz and superior hospitality of this mighty neighbourhood eatery: take a bow Elise Jacobsen, Lulu’s smiley restaurant manager and service talisman. From the moment you arrive, Jacobsen and her tight-knit crew work non-stop to make guests feel welcome, the floor team’s infectious charm and warm patter as much a draw as the food and drink.

In short: Leading by example.

LAURA STUCKEN | Van Bone, Tas

Given Laura Stucken’s ease and charm on the floor of Van Bone, the isolated east coast Tasmanian restaurant she co-owns and manages, you’d presume a hospitality background. But you’d only be partly right – Stucken is an interior designer who has worked on numerous hospitality venues (including the renowned Pumphouse Point). Now she’s designed a restaurant of her own and the warmth and elegance of the timber-forward design is the perfect backdrop for the relaxed style she brings to serving Van-Bone’s multi-course menu.

In short: Well-designed service.

SHANNON MARTINEZ | Vic

Author of three mega-selling cookbooks (with a fourth on the way), owner and chef of Australia’s most famous vegan food joints, Smith + Daughters and Smith + Deli, executive chef at Ovolo South Yarra’s Lona Misa restaurant and a regular feature of TV cooking shows, magazines and festivals, Shannon Martinez is great talent with a superb sense of humour and style. But perhaps her greatest achievement is making plant-based eating fun, irreverent and delicious, helping shift the narrative from fad to fabulous.

In short: Plant-based revolutionary.

SIMON GLOFTIS | Qld

After steering the launch of four standout Brisbane venues in four years (Hellenika, SK Steak & Oyster, Sunshine and Sushi Room), you’d expect restaurateur Simon Gloftis might be far too busy back of house to continue to make floor appearances. Not a chance. Starting in hospitality as a teenager with a market corn-on-the-cob stall, Gloftis has spent time enough – washing dishes, topping pizze, running coffee bars and more – to know true hands-on commitment by owners is key to creating the elusive alchemy that keeps diners returning.

In short: Committed to excellence.

WINE BAR OF THE YEAR

BAR MERENDA | Daylesford, Vic

At Bar Merenda the person next to you might have made the wine you’re drinking, though they themselves may be drinking something stonkingly good from Europe. With its casual, home-made feel and the extensive knowledge (and cellar) of owners Andy Ainsworth and Clare O’Flynn, Merenda is just the kind of wine bar that a town in one of Australia’s most interesting and forward-thinking wine-growing regions should have. Add some simple but excellent wine bar food and you may find a quick drink turning into a long evening.

In short: Right place, right time.

BAR ROCHFORD | Canberra, ACT

One of the engineers of Canberra’s current dining boom, Bar Rochford remains as excitingly, joyously relevant as it has been since its 2015 opening. Whether it’s for world-class cocktails and a plate of lobster vol-au-vents, a glass of something white, pink, orange or red with a skewer of smoked beef tongue, or a multi-course Mediterranean-tinged dining experience with an affordable bottle of something biodynamic, ascending the slim staircase to this joyous, warm space is even more transportive today than it was seven years ago.

In short: Still got it

CASA | Mount Hawthorn, WA

This mid-century fantasy of stone and wood wouldn’t look out of place in Milan or Rome, but rare is the enoteca that stores all its (lo-fi, organically farmed) wine in seven different temperature-specific fridges. The kitchen’s repertoire of Mexican-y, Japanese-y small plates would likely confuse Italians, ditto the Aussie twang of cheery staff that run the show. But for Perth drinkers seeking both style and substance, Casa feels like home.

In short: Mi casa, su casa.

Good Gilbert | Goodwood, SA

As friendly neighbourhood bars go, Good Gilbert is the epitome of community spirit. Co-owners Wilson and Isabelle Shawyer did the bar’s creative fit-out and art-packed interior themselves. The couple is dedicated to sharing great wine at an accessible price; from great entry-level chardonnay to Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Nuits St Georges Blanc and everything in between. The wine list changes weekly and head chef Savannah Sexton’s menu is a drawcard of its own. Even pooches are welcome (there’s a wall of polaroids devoted to them).

In short: All heart and soul.

PALOMA | Burleigh Heads, Qld

The fun literally spills onto the pavement at Burleigh Head’s groovy Paloma. Chic, with clean-lined retro-mediterranean interiors, this wine bar is the handiwork of the owners of nearby Labart and it rocks. Expect a Euro-centric wine list studded with stacks of natural and small-batch goodness, matched with smart plates ranging from a hunger-busting steak frites with peppercorn sauce, to boquerones on toast, and shisito peppers with salmorejo. Add in friendly, slick service and sharp cocktails, and Paloma gets a big tick from us.

In short: Rewriting Gold Coast stereotypes.

PASKI VINERIA POPOLARE | Sydney, NSW

It was meant to be a bottle shop – but when Italian wine importers Giorgio de Maria and Mattia Dicati signed the lease on their Oxford Street premises, the pair quickly realised they needed to think bigger and make the most of the prime two-storey establishment. Enter fellow Italian and former 10 William St chef Enrico Tomelleri as the trio set about launching one of the country’s most vibrant wining and dining destinations. With downstairs reserved for walk-ins and those looking to take home a bottle of something juicy, Paski is made for casual catch-ups and impromptu snack attacks.

In short: Buono bottle-o.

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Amy Chanta passed away in March but her legacy lives on. We asked her friends and colleagues to share their memories of the chef and business woman who founded the Chat Thai empire and physically cultivated Australia’s Thai food scene.

There are many stories you can tell about Amy Chanta, the beloved Sydney restaurateur who helped Australians fall in love with Thai cuisine. There’s her story as a migrant, newly arrived in Australia and sewing pockets for 50 cents each in Sydney, eventually saving enough money to relocate her children from Thailand in the 1980s. There’s her story as a McDonald’s employee who, decades later, was invited to cook for Copenhagen’s acclaimed Noma restaurant. There’s her story as the founder of Chat Thai, the restaurant empire she began in 1989 – at first, she catered to Western tastes, offering chocolate mousse and crème caramel, only to evolve into the standard-bearer for Thai food as it’s cooked in Thailand. There’s her story as a force behind Sydney’s Thai Town, which in 2013 was recognised as the world’s second Thai Town after Los Angeles. And there’s her story as someone who helped the Thai culinary scene physically grow, cultivating unique ingredients for her own restaurants and helping others add them to their stir-fries, curries and soups.

“When my mum died, I got so many sweet, kind messages from people all around the world,” recalls her daughter Palisa Anderson, who continues to run the Chat Thai empire and grows an ever-increasing assortment of unique, organic produce at her Byron Bay property, Boon Luck Farm.

Many were from Chat Thai customers, who recalled how personal she was in her interactions. “She’d have a pet name for them and would write that on their order slip.” Chanta may no longer leave her personal stamp on dishes or orders, organise cultural events in Thai Town, or witness the coming harvests on her farms in Thailand and Australia, but her legacy thrives with every community-minded act and initiative she seeded in her time.

DAVID THOMPSON | chef and restaurateur

In the 1990s, there were Thai nightclubs where Thai Town currently stands. This is where Thompson first encountered Chanta. “Nightclub is a highfalutin word and euphemism for late-night dining place. There’d be some bands on occasion. Being avidly and naively interested in Thai things, I’d turn up on occasion and they had nice booze. I met Amy around there,” he says.

At the time, he was running Sydney’s Darley Street Thai and well aware of her impact. “She was one of the first to make Thais feel at home,” says Thompson. She had adapted the cuisine to local circumstances – and was groundbreaking in other ways. “She was the first to grow and get ingredients into the Sydney market for people like me to use.”

JOY THAISPORI ROCHE | CEO Thai Town Business and Thai Community Association

Joy Thaiposri Roche’s friendship with Chanta began three decades ago. “At the time, not many Thai businesses were in [Haymarket] at all,” she says. Over time, thanks to the pioneering work of local operators – like Pontip Walpole (who ran beloved Thai grocer, Pontip), Chanta and Thaiposri Roche – Thai Town began to develop.

“Thai Town started as a community a long time ago, but it was officially recognised by the City of Sydney with the street sign and everything in 2013,” says Thaiposri Roche, who is currently CEO of the Thai Town Business and Thai Community Association. She credits Amy as one of the precinct’s “pioneers”, who actively staged ceremonies and festivals in the area and fostered its proud Thai identity.

“You don’t get homesick when you walk through Thai Town,” Thaiposri Roche adds. It reminds her of travelling through Bangkok’s laneways – particularly when she can eat khanom krok (Thai coconut rice pancakes) at Chat Thai. “You can’t find that dessert anywhere else, even in Thailand, it’s very rare.” She credits Chanta for bringing chefs and recipes from Thailand, and inspiring other businesses. “People in that area compete with each other – in a good way – to make Thai food more interesting, authentic and presentable,” she says. “She was one of the Thai people who actually made Thai food more famous.”

VINITA CHUMSRI | restaurateur

“Amy was very active in the Thai community and everyone’s aunty. She was the true definition of leading by example. Especially for Thais in Sydney wanting to make a jump in their career, she made us all believe that anything was possible,” says Chumsri, who opened her restaurant, Little Turtle in Sydney, as a uni student. “Amy is a chef who created a movement that changed Sydneysiders’ perception of Thai food,” she adds. “She gave us Thais a voice.”

MARTIN BOETZ | chef and restaurateur

“We often saw each other in Chinatown, she’d point out different things if we were shopping,” says Boetz. “I was looking at water lily stems and said, ‘what would I do with these?'” Save the stem for a sour orange curry, she’d tell him. Or add them to a stir-fry.

Their friendship began nearly two decades ago, when Chanta brought staff and family into his Longrain restaurant for celebrations – including her daughter’s 21st birthday. “It meant a lot to me: bringing in a bunch of Thai people to eat Thai food, cooked by a white guy,” he laughs. Chanta was always generous with feedback and appreciation. She was “business-minded, canny and developed many restaurants, but at the end of the day, she was kind.”

ANGIE HONG | former restaurateur

When Angie Hong met Chanta, many years ago, the connection was immediate. “We clicked straight away,” says Hong. They had plenty in common: they were migrant women running multiple Asian restaurants while raising children – who would later go on to join the industry (Hong’s son Dan is one of Merivale’s star chefs). And they understood the responsibility of maintaining restaurants for their Asian communities. “We had to do it well so that these people don’t lose their jobs,” she says.

“You run restaurants and it’s long hours,” says Hong. “We left the kids on their own for a little bit, but I’m so happy that they turned out okay.” Even with help from family, it was a challenge. Even more so for Chanta, who managed multiple businesses as a single mother. “She was on her own,” recalls Hong.

More than 1000 people attended Chanta’s seven-day funeral service in March. “Her life touched so many lives. She left a beautiful legacy.”

RENÉ REDZEPI | chef and restaurateur

“Amy was an institution. Her work, and that of her entire family and team, has contributed so much to Australia’s love of Thai cuisine and its connection to Thailand. Everything she represented is carried on through Palisa and her family today.”

DAVID CHANG | chef and restaurateur

“My very first meal in Sydney was Chat Thai for lunch,” recalls Chang. This was around 2009 and marked the start of a long-standing love affair with Chanta’s food. “I’ve loved eating so many meals there at the OG location and remember taking the ferry a few years later to Manly Beach and being overjoyed to see another branch of Chat Thai there,” he says. “Eating her food made me happy.”

When Chang is in his American homeland, he often wonders, “Why the hell can’t we have something as great as Chat Thai here?” Despite a number of Thai restaurants populating US cities, Chang says “nothing ever seems to hit the spot and hospitality that Amy helped create.”

“She made Thai food accessible to Sydney. Just look at the variety of people in the queue: uni students, tourists, suits from the CBD, foodies. Accessible is the key word here: most of the time it means Asian food gets watered down. Amy’s food was accessible because it was outrageously delicious and uncompromising! She paved her own path.”

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