Sweet treats at The Boat House by the Lake

The Boat House by the Lake gained some national recognition recently, when Gourmet Traveller's Canberra reviewer, Gareth Meyer, named its pumpkin cheesecake ice cream his favourite dish of the year.

The ice cream comes with black sesame custard, goat’s cheese ‘‘panna cotta’’ and salted honey popcorn, he says, and is the outcome of giving ‘‘a troop of siphon-wielding young chefs’’ carte blanche to overhaul a tired kitchen.

The Boat House is managed by James Souter, who has taken over the business from his father. The executive chef is John Leverink.

The magazine's food editor, Pat Nourse, nominated Sydney’s Cafe Paci as the biggest news in Sydney food this year, in the hands of former Marque chef Pasi Petanen. He, too, nominated a dessert – carrot in yoghurt mousse with salted liquorice.

Canberra’s Eighty-six would also have been happy with the attention of Gourmet Traveller, with its caramel popcorn sundae making the magazine’s cover earlier in the year.