The 2015 Age Good Food Guide Awards were announced tonight at a ceremony presented by Vittoria Coffee and Citi, celebrating the current leaders of culinary excellence in Melbourne's famously diverse scene. New Japanese restaurant Minamishima, which opened late last year, was the big talking point of the night, having been crowned both Restaurant of the Year, and the newest member to the two-hat club. The restaurant's manager and sommelier Randolph Cheung also walked away as the winner of the Citi Service Excellence Award.
A two hour's drive from Melbourne, Birregurra restaurant Brae was another strong performer with two major awards: the Regional Restaurant of the Year and Citi Chef of the Year for owner-chef Dan Hunter. The restaurant also retained the Guide's highest accolade, three chef hats, the only regional restaurant in VIC to boast such a reputation.
Along with Minamishima, four other restaurants joined the two-hat ranking within the past 12 months, the others being Circa, Moon Under Water, The Press Club, and Woodland House. Melbourne's famous Attica is still the only city restaurant to be yet again awarded three hats.
Other awards included Best New Restaurant (Tipo 00), Young Chef of the Year (George Tomlin of The Town Mouse), Best Cheap Eat (Delhi Streets), People's Choice Award (Red Spice Road), and Food for Good Award (ASRC Catering)
In terms of regional dining, Central Victoria was the big winner, with the area boasting four winning restaurants earning their first chef's hat each. Those restaurants are Catfish in Ballarat, The Good Table in Castlemaine, Masons of Bendigo in Bendigo, and Public Inn in Castlemaine.
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The full list of winners is as below
Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year
Minamishima, Richmond
Best New Restaurant
Tipo 00, Melbourne
People's Choice Award
Red Spice Road, Melbourne
Citi Chef of the Year
Dan Hunter, Brae
Young Chef of the Year
George Tomlin, The Town Mouse
Santa Vittoria Regional Restaurant of the Year
Brae, Birregurra
Food for Good Award
ASRC Catering
Best Cheap Eat
Delhi Streets, Melbourne
Citi Service Excellence
Randolph Cheung, Minamishima
Vittoria Coffee Legend
Gail and Kevin Donovan, Donovans
Best Bar
Romeo Lane, Melbourne
Donlevy Fitzpatrick Award (restaurant-quality food in a bar)
Bar Clarine, Fitzroy
Champagne Pol Roger Sommelier of the Year
Meira Harel, Lake House
Wine List of the Year
Woodland House, Prahran
Regional Wine List of the Year
Ten Minutes by Tractor, Main Ridge
The Age Good Food Guide and Awards are presented by Vittoria Coffee and Citi. For more information on the winners visit goodfood.com.au.
Hatted restaurants
City & Suburbs
Three hats
Attica
Two hats
Circa, Cutler & Co, Ezard, Flower Drum, Grossi Florentino Upstairs, Matteo’s, Minamishima, Moon Under Water, The Press Club, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Rosetta, Saint Crispin, Spice Temple, Vue de Monde, Woodland House
One hat
Bacash, Bistro Guillaume, Bistro Vue, Cafe Di Stasio, Cecconi’s Flinders Lane, Centonove, Coda, Cumulus Inc., Da Noi, Dandelion, Donovans, Easy Tiger Smith St, Epocha, European, The Grand, Huxtable, Il Bacaro, Kappo, Kenzan, Longrain, Lume, Maha, Merricote, Mister Jennings, MoVida, MoVida Aqui, No. 8 by John Lawson, O.My, Pei Modern, The Point Albert Park, Pure South, The Roving Marrow, Sarti, Stokehouse City, Supernormal, Tipo 00, Tonka, The Town Mouse, Union Dining
Regional
Three hats
Brae (Birregurra)
Two hats
Gladioli (Inverleigh), Lake House (Daylesford), Provenance (Beechworth), Royal Mail Hotel (Dunkeld), Ten Minutes by Tractor (Main Ridge)
One hat
A La Grecque (Aireys Inlet), Broadgauge (Wodonga), Catfish (Ballarat), Chris’s Beacon Point (Apollo Bay), Eleonore’s (Yering), The Good Table (Castlemaine), Kazuki’s (Daylesford), Masons of Bendigo (Bendigo), Montalto (Red Hill South), Paringa Estate (Red Hill South), Port Phillip Estate (Red Hill South), Public Inn (Castlemaine), Simones Restaurant (Bright), Source Dining (Kyneton), The Stag (Port Fairy), Stefano’s (Mildura), Tani Eat & Drink (Bright), Terminus at Flinders Hotel (Flinders), Terrace Restaurant (Wahgunyah), Tulip (Geelong)
The Age Good Food Guide 2016 will be on sale at participating newsagents, 7-Elevens and supermarkets from Saturday, 26 September for the special price of $10 with The Age, while stocks last. It can also be ordered online at www.theageshop.com.au/agegfg2016 for $24.99
Lead Image: Good Food