Meet the Good Food Guide 2018 Citi Chef of the Year finalists

• The five finalists

In a climate where big business has turned its hand to restaurants and staff shortages are more dire than ever, there are still chefs out there creating personality-driven venues.

A call back to simplicity and cooking not just as a craft, but as a precision skill, is the real driving force here at some of the country's more idiosyncratic restaurants. "I think there's a greater confidence, people are opening really interesting, very focused venues and nailing them," says Dave Verheul​ (the Town Mouse and Embla, Melbourne).

This narrowing of focus sees chefs like Josh Niland (Saint Peter, Paddington) opening restaurants devoted to envelope-pushing seafood. He specialises in using every part of the fish he can – down to the blood, heart and even semen. But that kind of specificity means planning, and patience. "Fish butchery is laborious," says Niland. "There's so much effort during the day that when we go into service of an evening, only three of us are in the kitchen."

Industry-wide staff shortages have certainly added to the trend towards simplicity on the plate. Many chefs now build their dishes during service with a minimal team in the kitchens. Fewer elements in a dish means ingredients have a time to shine.

At Fred's (Paddington), chef Danielle Alvarez might be described as fearless when it comes to her devotion to minimalist, seasonally-driven dishes ("Too much on the plate means things, including quality, get lost") but even she's still finding her voice. "I feel like I'm barely scratching the surface. But I'm really excited by people like Josh Niland and Dave Verheul. These are guys that focus on the skill of cooking, and I feel like that's something in the industry that's gotten a bit lost."

Seasoned owner-operators like Daniel Puskas (Sixpenny, Stanmore) still get their hackles up when it comes to young chefs who learn everything in fine dining restaurants, except, he says, "how to cook tasty food." Puskas reckons "skill is what's most important. Learn the craft of making things delicious."

Further, Niland says you need to give young chefs an incentive to want to learn. "We're all trying to produce "something" rather than just plates full of food. We all keep banging on about how hard it is to find good staff but as chefs and owners you have to offer them something. A skill-set. A technique. Something they can take forward."

Alvarez agrees. "It's important to bring back a bit of the joy. I think for young chefs that's what they want to see. Still, it's a pretty good time to be cooking"

The Good Food Guide 2018 Citi Chef of the Year Finalists

A chef explaining their style of cooking is like a musician explaining their style of music. So we asked their peers to do it for them.

Aaron Turner, Igni

"The thing I really like about Aaron's food is that it really is so simple, so delicious, direct, and it leaves you wondering why the hell you didn't think of that." – Dave Verheul

Brilliance is in part about knowing when to pull back, Turner and his polished front-of-house partners in this low-key backstreet dining room have it nailed. The chef's skill with the wood grill at the heart of his kitchen is to coax the essential flavours and textures from the remarkable produce that come his way.

Ryan Place, Geelong VIC, 03 5222 2266, restaurantigni.com

Danielle Alvarez, Fred's

"The whole conversation is bringing it back to real cooking, which is just such a lost skill. And the way Danielle executes simplicity is so difficult to achieve." – Dan Puskas

The big draw here is the lovely hearth where most of the cooking's done, wrangled by this ex-Chez Panisse chef. If you really want to just drop your wallet into the flames, the musty Robbins Island 600 gram T-Bone will leave you $135 poorer, but all the happier for it.

380 Oxford Street, Paddington, New South Wales, 02 9240 3000, merivale.com.au/freds

Dan Puskas, Sixpenny

"The elegance and his constant striving for perfection makes his the food that I would want to cook if I had the courage." – Josh Niland

Chef Dan Puskas has, over the years, honed and sharpened his menu into an ever-evolving study in simplicity. Kick off with snacks like a gougere filled with gouda and sweet chutney and a confit pumpkin doughnut bomb finished with a sprinkling of pumpkin seed salt.

83 Percival Road, Stanmore NSW, 02 9572 6666, sixpenny.com.au

Dave Verheul, the Town Mouse and Embla

"Dave's food is spot on both presentation and flavour and he never compromises that for tricky technique – his food is also perfect drinking companion." – Aaron Turner

It was love at first bite for many Melburnians when the talented Kiwi unveiled this bijou, black-tiled tiny diner four years ago. Shareable and often pretty dishes have an elegant insouciance as well as beguilingly beautiful flavours.

312 Drummond Street, Carlton VIC, 03 9347 3312, thetownmouse.com.au

Josh Niland, Saint Peter

"It's the most perfect fish cookery I've ever seen. I think Josh has incredible skill but his precision and return to skill is something he's really highlighting." – Danielle Alvarez

This young owner-operator, a young chef with a fin-to-tail sensibility, is unapologetically serving an entirely seafood-based menu. And he's having fun with it, too. Get set for seafood cookery on a level unseen in Sydney.

362 Oxford Street, Paddington, New South Wales, 02 8937 2530, saintpeter.com.au

The Good Food Guide goes national this year with hats awarded across Australia. The Good Food Guide 2018 will be launched in October with our presenting partners Citi and Vittoria and will be on sale in newsagencies and bookstores.