Introduction
AUSTRALIAN
Welcome to the 2023 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide, heralding the best dining experiences to be found across Australia in the year ahead. Our team has travelled far and wide to visit – and revisit – dozens of restaurants, seeking out the most exceptional meals and memorable experiences in each state. To earn a place in this guide, a restaurant must deliver on multiple fronts: service, ambience, décor, value, and of course, what’s on the plate. Creativity and consistency are valued in equal measure. From dégustation-only fine-diners, to casual wine bars serving sensational snacks, this guide is not limited to a single style of dining. But those featured represent the very best of what they do and deliver on what they promise.
THE YEAR IN DINING
One step forward, two steps back. That has been the frustration facing the hospitality industry this year, as staff shortages, illness, and $17 cabbages have made running a restaurant ever more challenging. Last summer heralded the popping of Champagne corks as diners embraced a more-is-more approach to dining with Gatsby-levels of gusto. But as the days grew shorter, that enthusiasm cooled and diners became more discerning about where they went and how often. By August, a rising tide of cancellations had swept the industry as diners tightened their spending with each and every rate hike. All of this has put huge pressure on both kitchens and front-of-house teams as they try to navigate these ever-shifting sands, making consistency the new Holy Grail of hospitality. It has seen some previous standouts falter, unable to keep pace and deliver on what they promise. Elsewhere, experience has proven the Midas touch, returning old favourites to career-best form. And throughout it all, new restaurants continue to join the ranks and bring fresh and unique ideas to the table.
Once again, creativity and resilience have proven the key skills necessary to survive in this climate. As summer approaches, many are pinning their hopes on a long and bright season that will see dining rooms full and a more stable economic outlook. As always, we seek to support the industry by celebrating the joy of dining and singling out those we trust to deliver consistent and exceptional experiences that are worth both your time and money.
INTRODUCING GOOD TIMES
This year, we have introduced a new list for our two biggest cities, Melbourne and Sydney, specifically designed to celebrate those restaurants that can be relied on to always deliver a good time. Whether dining à deux, or in a larger group, these are the places that draw a vibrant crowd any night of the week, bringing soul to the city and surrounding suburbs.
HOW THIS WORKS
The guide is divided by states, with an individual winner leading each. All remaining entries are listed alphabetically and not ranked. All of the restaurants reviewed were visited anonymously between March and August 2022 with reviewers paying their own way.
1175 MorningtonFlinders Rd, Red Hill tedesca.com.au
Chef Brigitte Hafner Price guide $$$$ Bookings Essential Wheelchair access Yes Open Lunch Fri-Mon
Brigitte Hafner’s Red Hill endlessly acclaimed passion project (and GT’s 2022 Restaurant of the Year) remains a benchmark for excellence with no evidence of ennui. Abandon all thoughts of hurry. Spend the first half hour marvelling at the hearth-dominated kitchen that segues seamlessly into a magnificently moody dining room that celebrates the hand-crafted, from staff uniforms to handwritten menu. The five-odd courses depend entirely on the surrounding 27-acre biodynamic farm and local small producers. There’s no denying the peak comfort factor of tortelloni stuffed with mortadella and mascarpone finished with sage and brown butter, or the salty-crisp skin on coral trout after its turn in the oven. Fruit tarts worthy of a Disney movie close the show. It’s a free-spirited dining experience, backed by the pithiest of wine lists, where a mid-meal stroll around the garden is actively encouraged. A dream, both for Hafner and those lucky enough to dine here.