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Sydney chef named Australia's best at Good Food Guide Awards 2018

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

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Sydney's hottest restaurants are plating fish guts, opening outside the CBD and owned by young chefs with passion, vigour and a penchant for skateboarding.

That was the take-away from the inaugural national Good Food Guide Awards held on Monday evening at The Star.

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Daniel Puskas of Stanmore restaurant Sixpenny was named Citi Chef of the Year for "his singular devotion and ability to go deeper with his food, while stripping it back", said Good Food Guide co-editor Myffy Rigby.

Puskas opened Sixpenny in a humble inner-west corner site with co-chef James Parry in 2012. In the restaurant's early days he would skateboard to work and cook sous-vide in a bucket. Parry left the business last year, however Sixpenny has continued to go from strength to strength. "It's Puskas's drive and passion that makes this so," Rigby said.

The hotly contested New Restaurant of the Year award went to Saint Peter in Paddington where seafood-focused young chef Josh Niland serves fish heart, swim bladder and liver alongside more familiar cuts such as belly and tail.

Josh Niland, head chef and owner of restaurant Saint Peter in Paddington.
Josh Niland, head chef and owner of restaurant Saint Peter in Paddington. Louise Kennerley

"Josh has created a restaurant unlike any other in the country with Saint Peter," Rigby said. "It's gill-to-tail fish cookery that's prepared and served with integrity and smarts."

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Quay and Sepia were the only Sydney restaurants to be awarded three hats in the national Good Food Guide, as Bridge Room slipped to a score of 17.5 and two hats. (A "three hat" rating is awarded to restaurants with a score of at least 18 out of 20.) Restaurants Brae, Minamishima and Attica all retained three hats in Victoria.

Attica, the Ripponlea fine-diner 20-minutes drive from Melbourne's CBD, was also named Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year.

The Good Food Guide 2018.
The Good Food Guide 2018.Fairfax Media

"One of the things we've really noticed this year is that increasingly, chefs and restaurateurs don't need to set up in blue-chip neighbourhoods to achieve greatness," said guide co-editor Roslyn Grundy.

The Good Food Guide 2018 combines the existing Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Brisbane Times editions of the dining bible and for the first time features 500 restaurant reviews from all corners of the country.

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The decision to make the guide a national edition came about because "Australians are increasingly basing their trips around food", Grundy said. "It made sense to expand the guide by exploring the best restaurants in every state."

A total of 267 restaurants across the country scored a minimum of 15 out of 20 to be awarded one hat or more.

Sydney restaurants making their guide debut with one hat include Neil Perry's Jade Temple at the former Rockpool site on Bridge Street, David Thompson's Long Chim, Paper Bird in Potts Point and chef Darren Robertson's Rocker in Bondi. Saint Peter, the Merivale-owned Fred's (also in Paddington) and Cirrus were the only new Sydney restaurants awarded two hats.

Jeremy Strode (Bistrode CBD, The Fish Shop), who passed away in July, was recipient of the Vittoria Coffee Legend Award for his nurturing of young chefs, who lovingly refer to him as The Truth because of his honest approach to cooking. Strode's wife, Jane, accepted the posthumous award.

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

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Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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