It was a bittersweet moment for the French chef, who announced a few months back that this would mark the final year of his restaurant Guillaume at Bennelong at Sydney’s Opera House. Last night, he took home the revered Vittoria Coffee Legend Award, while it was also the first time since 2008 that his restaurant was elevated to three chef’s hats. Brahimi will be announcing future plans for his team in the coming months.
Other tri-hat honours were dished out to Sepia, which also claimed the Restaurant of the Year award for the second year running, as well as David Chang’s Momofuku Seiobo, and mainstays Quay and Rockpool.
Chef of the Year went to relative newcomer Ross Lusted from The Bridge Room, while Bowral’s Biota Dining added another notch to its belt, picking up Best Regional Restaurant and Regional Wine List of the Year.
Best New Restaurant was awarded to Dan Hong’s Merivale restaurant, Mr Wong.
But it wasn’t all good news flying around the room, with a handful of prominent restaurants losing hats including Mark Best’s Marque, Peter Doyle’s est (which had retained three chef’s hats since opening in 2004), and Argentinean eatery Porteno in Surry Hills.
See below for the full list of 2014 SMH Good Food Guide Awards recipients:
Chef of the Year – The Bridge Room’s Ross Lusted
Innovation Award – Kylie Kwong
Regional Restaurant of the Year – Biota Dining
Josephine Pignolet Best Young Chef – Louis Tikaram (Longrain)
Service Excellence Award – Louise Tamayo (Claude’s)
Best New Restaurant – Mr Wong
Regional Wine List of the Year – Biota Dining
Best Food Bar – Tapavino
Wine List of the Year – Monopole
Sommelier of the Year – Richard Hargreave (Momofuku Seiobo)
Best Short Wine List – Baccomatto Osteria
Good Food Sustainability Award – Margan (Broke)
Hats:
Three hats
Sydney: Guillaume at Bennelong, Momofuku Seiobo, Quay, Rockpool, Sepia
Two hats
Sydney: Aria, The Bridge Room, Buon Ricordo, Claude’s, est., Four in Hand Dining Room, Gastro Park, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Longrain, Lucio’s Italian Restaurant, Marque, MoVida, Mr Wong, Ormeggio at The Spit, Pilu at Freshwater, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Spice Temple, Tetsuya’s
Canberra: Aubergine (Griffith)
Regional NSW: Biota Dining (Bowral), No 2 Oak Street (Bellingen), Subo (Newcastle West)
One hat
Aki’s Indian Restaurant, Ananas Bar & Brasserie, The Apollo, Arras, Balla, The Bathers’ Pavilion, Berowra Waters Inn, Billy Kwong, Bistro Moncur, Bistrode CBD, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, Bodega, buzo trattoria, Cafe Sopra, Catalina, China Doll, Clareville Kiosk, The Devonshire, Flying Fish Restaurant & Bar, Foveaux Restaurant & Bar, Glass Brasserie, Gowings Bar & Grill, Hartsyard, Jonah’s Restaurant, Kepos Street Kitchen, Monopole, Ms.G’s, Oscillate Wildly, Popolo, Porteño, The Restaurant Pendolino, Saké Restaurant & Bar, Sean’s Panaroma, Sixpenny, Sokyo, Three Blue Ducks, Tomislav, Uccello, Ume Restaurant, Xanthi
Canberra: Courgette (Canberra City), Italian & Sons (Braddon), Ottoman Cuisine (Barton), Pulp Kitchen European Brasserie (Ainslie), Waters Edge (Parkes)
Regional NSW: Bistro Molines (Mount View), Caveau (Wollongong), Darley’s (Katoomba) , Eschalot (Berrima), Fins (Kingscliff), Flooded Gums (Bonville), Lolli Redini (Orange), Manfredi at Bells (Killcare Heights), Muse Kitchen (Pokolbin), Muse Restaurant (Pokolbin), Neila (Cowra), Racine (Orange), Restaurant Como (Blaxland), Restaurant Mason (Newcastle), The River Moruya (Moruya), The Stunned Mullet (Port Macquarie), Tonic (Millthorpe), Town Restaurant (Bangalow), Tyler’s Pantry (Mogo), Wharf Rd Restaurant & Bar (Nowra), Zanzibar Cafe (Merimbula)
