HONOUR ROLL
For our annual night of nights, the leading lights of Australia’s culinary scene gathered in Sydney to celebrate the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards.
It should be no surprise that Gourmet Traveller knows a thing or two about how to throw a good party. And true to form, it was a night to remember when Australia’s food heroes and hot talents gathered in Sydney in August for the annual
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards and the launch of the GT 2018 Australian Restaurant Guide.
The gala dinner was held at Chin Chin in Surry Hills, the new restaurant from Melbourne restaurateur Chris Lucas. The Sydney outpost of Melbourne’s favourite South East Asian hotspot has been a long time coming, and the Oscars of the Australian food world were the perfect excuse to throw open the doors early.
Guests including Andrew McConnell, Dan Hunter and Kate Reid flew in for the awards, enjoying cocktails, laughs and plenty of high-fives with other leading hospitality figures such as Kylie Kwong, Justin Hemmes, Matt Moran, Dan Hong, Peter Gilmore and Neil Perry.
Adelaide’s Orana was named Australia’s Restaurant of the Year – the first restaurant outside Sydney and Melbourne in two decades to take home the award. Owner-chef Jock Zonfrillo accepted the top gong.
Mat Lindsay of Ester in Sydney took out the Chef of the Year award, while 28-year-old Josh Niland of Saint Peter in Paddington was named Best New Talent.
It wouldn’t be a celebration of the best of Australian dining without a feast to match, and the Chin Chin team did a stellar job. Louis Roederer Champagne and wines from Murdoch Hill flowed as chefs, sommeliers, restaurateurs and maîtres d’ mingled over crab, curry and coconut sandwiches, and chilli-fragrant mussels on rice cakes, before a fiery banquet landed with lobster and crab jungle curry and beef short-rib with coconut salad among the highlights.
“Whatever you like about good food, there’s something here for you,” said chief critic and editor of the restaurant guide Pat Nourse as he launched the new edition, presented in association with Vittoria Coffee and Santa Vittoria, and supporting sponsor Ilve. “It’s never been a better time to be a diner in Australia. However you like to enjoy yourself at the table, at the bar or in the kitchen.”
It was a sensational evening with plenty of laughs, music and cocktails flowing well into the night.