A year in tiny snacks: small bites from some of Australia's best restaurants

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Degustations are dead. Well, that's what everyone says. But has anyone noticed the flurry of snacks that now appear on the table at the beginning of a meal? In some restaurants (especially at the pointy end of Australian dining), it's become an excuse for a tasting smorgasbord – a way to get around the fact that no one wants to sit through a gazillion courses any more. Of course, for other places, a snack is just a little welcome bite or a culinary smack on the bottom to send you on your merry way. Whatever the motivation, there's no denying 2017 is the Year of the Snack, and it's a great time to be alive. Here's a calendar year's worth of pin-up-worthy tiny bites from some of our favourite restaurants.

Cook's leaves, Attica, Victoria

​Oooh, here come fancy weeds from the Ripponlea Estate gardens, left to you to dredge through house-made sour cream, dotted with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. And no, we can't promise they're not seasoned with Ben Shewry's artisanal tears.

Tea sandwich, Africola, South Australia

​The ultimate study in high fat, high carb, high-end sandwiching. Golden shards of chicken skin are placed between slices of soft white bread, set next to your very own little cup of hot chicken dripping. Stop, dop and roll.

Green ants and cucumber, Brae, Victoria

​There really is no better time to be a tangyculinary-grade ant. That is, as long as you don't mind being dehydrated, then tweezed onto a pickled baby cucumber. Actually, 2017 is a really terrible time to be an ant.

House-made Monte Carlo, The Pot by Emma McCaskill, South Australia

​Forget the Kingston, and never mind the Tim Tams. The one true biscuit to rule them all is the noble Monte Carlo and here, you can get 'em house-made – no more smothering family members in the night for the last one from the packet.

Baby turnip on black sesame, Yellow, New South Wales

​Whoever said romance dissolves at the appearance of a turnip clearly hasn't eaten the all-vegetarian menu here, where the peppery baby root vegetable sits on a rubble of black sesame. Poetry.

Spanner crab and tomato jelly, Sepia, New South Wales

Culinary magician ​Martin Benn performs the ultimate sleight of crab, hiding a hillock of spanner crabmeat under a floppy tomato gel hat that looks for all the world like a lazy starfish, finished in a shower of horseradish powder.

Doughnuts and roe, Cutler and Co., Victoria

​The jewel in the Andrew McConnell crown may have become famous for its seafood-by-the-piece menu but spare a thought for the savoury doughnut holes waiting to be torn open, topped with a schmear and showered in salmon roe. Boo-ya.

Single chicken's foot, Lulu La Delizia, Western Australia

​What Joel Valvasori can't do with a chicken's foot isn't worth knowing about. Especially when he's rendering them down to sticky-clawed confections, redolent with plum vinegar and – bonus – throat-searing horseradish.

Part-y pie, Saint Peter, New South Wales

​It's the mini pie that makes children scream and adults swoon. Josh Niland, king of delicious guts, is behind the, um, "part-y" pie. That's deeply golden shortcrust filled with all the bits of a mirror dory leftover post-filleting, bound in mornay sauce.

Confit pumpkin gougere, Sixpenny, New South Wales

Dear 2018, please bring with you more gougeres. Kind regards, anyone with a working mouth. For now, all hail the Sixpenny number, a confit pumpkin doughnut bomb finished with a sprinkling of pumpkin seed salt.

Cavolo nero tapioca chip, Lumi, New South Wales

​Forget the kale chip. Those are chips for chumps. No, our money's on the modern Italian diner's cavolo nero and tapioca chip – a large, aerated bubbly crisp that's all at once herbaceous, bitter and savoury.

Freshwater natives, Homage, Queensland

​Is there anything more heartbreakingly delicious than a tiny little freshwater yabby, freshly caught and ready for eating? It's joined by a cross-section of tender water babies at rest that look as sweet and beautiful as they taste.

Illustrations: Anna Vu

The national Good Food Guide 2018 will be on sale from October 17 in newsagencies, bookstores and via thestore.com.au/goodfood, RRP $29.99.