The Sydney Morning Herald 2008 Good Food Guide Awards were announced today and the restaurant of the year award went to Tetsuya’s (ranked the fifth best restaurant in the world in April by Restaurant Magazine.) I was reading an article about Tetsuya in The Australian on the weekend about how he’s struck a close, family-like bond with his Queensland spanner crab supplier who he apparently visits most weekends (his spanner crab supplier was originally his ocean trout supplier in Tasmania - Tetsuya’s signature dish is confit of ocean trout.)

Two restaurants gained a hat (Forty One and Restaurant Balzac), Three restaurants dropped a hat (Guillaume at Bennelong, Pello and Pier Tasting Room), and there were 16 new entries! (Azuma, Bistro Ortolan, Four in Hand Dining Room, Foveaux Restaurant + Bar, glass, Glebe Point Diner, Oscillate Wildly, Perama, Salon Banc, Three Clicks West, Artespresso, Bacchus, 55 on Collins, The Old George & Dragon, Restaurant Como and Rock.)

By the way, has anyone else noticed that the SMH title for their article is ‘2007 Good Food Guide Awards’? It’s the 2008 good food guide awards! - I’m sure they’ll change it soon.

…Anyway the winners are:

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Tetsuya’s

IN SYDNEY:

THREE HATS
Bilson’s, Claude’s, est, Marque, Pier, Quay, Tetsuya’s

TWO HATS
Aria, Becasse, Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Bisto Moncur, Buon Ricordo, Forty One, Guillaume at Bennelong, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Lucio’s, Pilu at Freshwater, Restaurant Balzac, Rockpool, Sean’s Panaroma, Yoshii

ONE HAT
Assiette, Astral, Azuma, Billy Kwong, Bird Cow Fish, Bistro CBD, Bistro Ortolan, Bistrode, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay, buzo, Catalina, Fish Face, Flying Fish, Forbes & Burton, Four in Hand Dining Room, Foveaux Restaurant + Bar, Galileo, glass, Glebe Point Diner, Grand National, il piave, Longrain, Lotus, Milsons, Oscillate Wildly, Otto, Pello, Perama, Pier Tasting Room, Restaurant Atelier, Salon Banc, Restuarant Soujourn, Sailors Thai Restaurant, The Wharf, Three Clicks West, Yings

NSW REGIONAL:

ONE HAT
Artespresso (Canberra), ashcrofts (Blackheath), Bacchus (Newcastle), Caveau (Wollongong), Courgette (Canberra), Darley’s (Katoomba), dish (Byron Bay), Eschalot (Berrima), 55 on Collins (Kiama), The Journeyman (Berrima), Lolli Redini (Orange), Lochiel House (Kurrajong Heights), Neila (Cowara), No. 2 Oak St (Bellingen), The Old George & Dragon (East Maitland), Ottoman Cuisine (Canberra), Restaurant Como (Blaxland), Restaurant II (Newcastle), The River (Moruya), Rock (Pokolbin), Tonic (Millthorpe), Vulcans (Blackheath), Zest (Nelson Bay)

Image from the SMH online shop.

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