Good Food Guide 2019: The Restaurant of the Year finalists announced

• More Good Food Guide 2019 finalists and news

What is the archetypal Australian fine-diner in 2018? A small progressive eatery showcasing native ingredients cooked over fire? Somewhere in the countryside plating produce farmed onsite? Or a waterside restaurant serving caviar on crisp linen?

“The typical Australian fine-dining venue doesn't exist,” says Good Food Guide editor Myffy Rigby. “Restaurants have moved well beyond the French-fied stereotypes of heavy sauce and silver service. Dining out at the top-level is a delicious adventure and, provided you don’t check the restaurant’s Instagram feed beforehand, often full of welcome surprises.”

The Good Food Guide review team spent six months travelling the country to compile the 2019 edition of Australia’s dining bible, set to be released next week after an awards ceremony at Crown Melbourne on Monday. The most coveted trophy of the evening is the Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year.

“The finalists for Restaurant of the Year represent the five types of fine-dining establishments you’ll find in all corners of Australia,” says Rigby. “From the intimate narrative of Orana in Adelaide, to the bells-and-whistles gusto of Quay.”

Raise your Riedel's to The Good Food Guide 2019 Restaurant of the Year finalists. The winning restaurant does not need to receive three hats in the Guide, but must capture the mood of the nation right now and exemplify what it means to be a world-class restaurant.

The Regional Hero

Brae (Vic)

What The Good Food Guide 2019 says: One of the most singular dining experiences in the country, from garden to plate.

Signature dishes: iced oyster; Sommerlad chicken ‘nose to tail’; parsnip and apple.

Cost: $260pp tasting menu.

Wait for a Saturday night table for two: Three months.

Kitchen gardens are a must have for regional restaurants 2018. While many chefs in regional Australia use the odd restaurant-grown cauliflower or kale leaf here and there, vegetables harvested from Brae’s onsite farm inform every aspect of the menu. Owner-chef Dan Hunter’s tightly-controlled cooking lives and breathes by the seasons and his creations are straight-up delicious. Brae also has that other vital component of modern-day destination diner: boutique accommodation. No one wants to consider a 90-minute drive back to Melbourne after 15 courses and matching wine.

4285 Cape Otway Road, Birregurra, Victoria, 03 5236 2226, braerestaurant.com

The A La Carte Classic

Cutler & Co (Vic)

What The Good Food Guide 2019 says: Luxurious dining where you can choose your own adventure.

Signature dishes: abalone katsu sandwich; dry-aged Macedon Ranges roast duck; chocolate delice.

Cost: Around $105 for three courses.

Wait for a Saturday night table for two: Two weeks.

Sure, you can push the boat out with a $170 tasting menu at this relaxed fine-diner, but chef Andrew McConnell also offers an a la carte menu at his loadstar restaurant proving the old concept “entree,main, dessert” concept isn’t dead yet. Most importantly, it also has a bar where you can spend ten minutes sharing a cracking cheeseburger before hitting the dining room for Australia’s best dry-aged duck.

55-57 Gertrude Street, Melbourne, 03 9419 4888, cutlerandco.com.au

The Rock’n’Roll Rebel

Momofuku Seiobo (NSW)

What The Good Food Guide 2019 says: Gutsy flavours meet sharp technique at this Sydney star.

Signature dishes: mofongo and chicharrones; cou-cou with sterling caviar; marron and coconut bakes.

Cost: $185pp tasting menu.

Wait for a Saturday night table for two: One month.

Ever since the only Australian outpost of New York’s Momofuku empired in 2011, it’s taken delight in flipping its middle finger to what a fine-dining should be and showing what it can be. That is: a lot of bloody fun. Expect to hear Iggy Pop on the soundtrack while live marron wrestling in a cast-iron pot at the bar. Check the luxurious take on rice and beans - elevated comfort food inspired by chef Paul Carmichael’s Barbadian upbringing. A sharp service team lead by Kylie Javier Ashton keeps the good ship Momo firmly on course.

The Star, Level G, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, 02 9657 9169, seiobo.momofuku.com

The Australian Ingredient Champion

Orana (SA)

What The Good Food Guide 2019 says: A degustation-only magical mystery tour of Australian ingredients.

Signature dishes: potato damper and lamb butter; kohlrabi, dorrigo, quandong and lemon myrtle; set buffalo milk, strawberry and eucalyptus.

Cost: $240pp tasting menu.

Wait for a Saturday night table for two: One week.

Australian ingredients now appear on restaurant menus with the same frequency “flambe” and “sun-dried tomato” did in the ’90s. Jock Zonfrillo has been a driving force to promote our native flora on the plate and the 20-or-so courses at Orana have a narrative embedded in a mix of the chef’s personal history and the Australian landscape. Zonfrillo’s fine-dining training weaves the story together, from damper brought to the table on smouldering coals, to just-set buffalo milk in strawberry eucalyptus juice.

Level 1, 285 Rundle Street, Adelaide, 08 8232 3444, restaurantorana.com

The Big Night Out

Quay (NSW)

What The Good Food Guide 2019 says: Soft punches land hard at this new-look Sydney classic.

Signature dishes: pea garden, miso, anchovy; smoked pig jowl, fan shell razor clams, shiitake, sea cucumber crackling; white coral.

Cost: $275pp tasting menu.

Wait for a Saturday night table for two: Six months.

Quay’s multi-million-dollar mid-year makeover saw the nightclubby decor turfed in favour of sleek, intimate spaces micro-managed by brigades of attentive floor staff. The room has never been a more beautiful canvas to showcase chef Peter Gilmore’s sublime cooking celebrating Australian produce and rare ingredients. The Snow Egg may have left the building, but those Sydney Harbour views remain as sparkling as ever.

Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, 02 9251 5600, quay.com.au

A field dictionary for dining out in 2018

Aquafaba a vegan egg-white substitute made from the canned chickpea goop usually poured down the drain. Actually not bad in a whisky sour.

Binchotan super-compressed Japanese charcoal that burns four times longer than the regular stuff and is ideal for grilling chicken. Binchotan is also used by healthy-eaters to filter water of impurities even though tap water is perfectly fine and free.

Cobia also known as the “wagyu of the sea”, the fish is loved by many contemporary chefs for its rich, white flesh happy to accommodate other flavours.

Coravin a needle-type gadget that allows wine to be poured from a bottle while the cork stays in place. The remaining wine is preserved so you can sample big-ticket drops without committing to the whole bottle. A sommelier’s favourite invention since the screw cap.

Koji cooked rice inoculated with a specific type of mould that’s big in Japan. Koji can be used to ferment and season other foods for a powerful savoury flavour. Think miso sprinkled with chicken salt and you’re halfway there.

Magpie goose a waterbird native to the Northern Territory. Jock Zonfrillo is fond of serving magpie goose breast with eucalyptus-smoked potato at Orana and sometimes the bird’s windpipe makes an appearance on the menu, too.

Minutina also known as buckshorn plantain, this plant’s little green leaves have a crunchy texture and nutty flavour that works very well in salads. Peter Gilmore is a fan.

Petillant-naturel sparkling wine made by an ancient method where wine that hasn’t finished its primary ferment is bottled without secondary yeasts or sugars. The fizzy result is often cloudy, tart and very drinkable - just don’t put a room temperature “pet-nat” directly on ice or you may well end up with an exploding bottle.

The Good Food Guide's second annual national edition, with hats awarded across Australia, will be launched on October 8 with our presenting partners Vittoria Coffee and Citi. The Good Food Guide 2019 will be on sale from October 9 in newsagencies, bookstores and pre-ordered via thestore.com.au/gfg19 (delivery included), RRP $29.99.
Don't miss Tuesday's Good Food for the special 24-page Good Food Guide Awards edition.