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Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2017: the award winners

All the winners from this year's Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide awards.

CITI CHEF OF THE YEAR

To acknowledge those with the craft and ability to make a real difference to the way we dine now and in the future.

Federico Zanellato​

​The ex-head chef of Ormeggio​ at the Spit took a gamble last year opening on the water in Pyrmont. And it's a gamble that's paid off. His fusing of Japanese technique to an Italian-leaning menu has knocked the socks off Sydney. Whether it's harnessing the delicacy of his parmesan chawan-mushi​ , or the unadulterated pleasure of a soft fillet of snapper under a foam of potato with the tiniest hint of a praline potato crunch, both are measures of his seemingly effortless skill.

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STREETS OF BARANGAROO PEOPLE'S CHOICE

A reader-driven award that allows the public to name their favourite restaurant. Voted by the people, for the people.

Dead Ringer

"Don't be stupid, it's a bar." Well, yeah. But what does that really mean now? Probably less than it ever has before. What it means on this pocket of Bourke Street in Surry Hills is a sleek layout with a classic bent. Inside, the large bar is run by a crack team who are as happy to stir you a martini as they are to crack open a tinnie of local craft beer. On the plate, chef Tristan Rosier (ex Est. and Farmhouse) is serving up honeyed ricotta and witlof cooked down into a confection sitting in a verdant slick of herbed oil and roasting a hell of a chook.

VITTORIA COFFEE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

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Ticks every box. The winner does not need to receive three hats but must capture the mood of the city now and exemplify what it means to be a world-class restaurant.

Quay

Hot damn but if this isn't Quay at its best. Between Peter "master of the rare and strange" Gilmore's mud crab congee – the country's most luxurious comfort dish – and a member of the floor staff subtly taking a white napkin to be replaced with a black (just in case the white leaves any threads on a dark outfit) and the smart, snappy wine matches, it is hard to find fault here. This is world-class dining at its sparkling best delivered with ease and beauty. So Sydney but also, so anywhere.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT

The most exciting opening in the past 12 months, this restaurant sets the eating agenda and starts conversations.

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Hubert

There is little not to love about this French beauty. Hug those highly glossed wooden curves as you descend. Drink deep from the cocktail bar off to the left that looks like it has been there forever and seen a thousand things. Then head to the dining room replete with tiny stage for torch singers and impromptu piano performances. There are even Individual banquettes by the second bar so punters can get a slice of the dining action while reclining with a pastis fizz.

SANTA VITTORIA REGIONAL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

The best outside Sydney. The winning establishment must provide a restaurant experience comparable with anything in the city but remain uniquely regional.

Paper Daisy

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Few regional chefs soar higher than former Esquire head chef Ben Devlin at Paper Daisy, the deliciously styled restaurant at the North Coast's most head-turning boutique beachside hotel. Devlin combines foraged native ingredients, top local produce, a charcoal grill and a boundary-stretching restlessness with skills honed at the likes of Noma in Copenhagen, to redefine Australian regional and coastal cuisine.

JOSEPHINE PIGNOLET YOUNG CHEF OF THE YEAR

To acknowledge our best and brightest rising stars of the kitchen.

Noel Jelfs

There really is something to be said for a young chef whose passion is so firmly entrenched in the classics. Meet Noel Jelfs, a Rockpool graduate with big aspirations. When his head isn't in Larousse or Escoffier, he's whipping up pommes fondant, salade Lyonnaise and chateaubriand. Next year, he is hoping to move to Europe, hike the Michelin trail, work at the Waterside Inn and eventually bring this style of straight-edge fine dining back to Sydney.

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VITTORIA COFFEE LEGEND AWARD

For outstanding long-term contribution to the industry, chosen from a short list by Les Schirato of Vittoria Coffee.

Leon Fink, group chairman of the Fink Group

An intellectual renegade, risk taker, aesthete (Germaine Greer once described him as "the most upsettingly beautiful man" she had ever met) and philanthropist, Leon Fink is a multiskilled juggernaut. He has been instrumental in effecting social and political change in Australia. His passion for hospitality has seen him, with his son John, create one of the most powerful and successful restaurant empires in the country.

CITI SERVICE EXCELLENCE

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To honour an individual's outstanding level of service and contribution to the hospitality industry.

Astrid McCormack

There's very little room for error when you run a restaurant with no cool room, an open kitchen, a constantly changing wine list and 22 seats. Especially when you're doing all of this in sleepy Brunswick Heads on the North Coast. So more power to sommelier/restaurateur Astrid McCormack who runs not just a tight ship at Fleet, but a very, very friendly one. Quick and professional, an intuitive attitude to wine service and a preternatural skill for knowing what a customer needs before they do, she brings the restaurant to life.

FOOD FOR GOOD

An award celebrating innovation and charity. The winner goes above and beyond to contribute to the community.

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Parliament on King

Troubled by Australia's treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, Ravi and Della Prasad turned the front living room of their Newtown terrace into a cafe in 2013, promising each other "let's use this space to do something to make us happy". Parliament on King is now a cafe, bookshop, events space, hospitality training centre, catering business, and home away from home for many of Sydney's asylum seekers and refugees. So far, the cafe has trained more than 250 people in barista skills, food preparation, food hygiene and service, with many going on to their first Australian jobs.

CAFE OF THE YEAR

A new award acknowledging cafes with integrity, dedication and damn good coffee.

Paramount Coffee Project

On top of being one of the most impressively designed cafes to have opened in Sydney in the past five years, PCP also have one of the strongest food-to-coffee-deliciousness ratios in town. Ristrettos and creamy flat whites are joined by cold drip coffee and cold turmeric drinks. Barley porridge and grilled mandarin appear on the menu along with baked eggs and – hooray for all things fatty – there's chicken and waffles. Next door, Golden Age Cinema run screenings and serve cocktails and if that wasn't achingly cool enough for you, Vice occupies an office upstairs. There's a second cafe in LA, too.

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BEST CHEAP EAT

An award to celebrate great food that's also easy on the wallet.

Bovine & Swine

You will smell it before you see it. That earthy, meaty, smoky, almost visceral smell of barbecue that hits you full force as soon as you're within 50 metres of the place. This is the work of Anton Hughes and "Hillbilly" Wes Griffiths. Together, they're hell-bent on bringing the bare-knuckle taste of Texas barbecue to Enmore. And Enmore has responded extremely enthusiastically.

WINE LIST OF THE YEAR

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A diverse and high-quality by-the-glass selection alongside an accessible bottle list that displays a good range of vintages and complements the restaurant's food and style.

Monopole

It's a fine line between a wine list that can challenge your drinking habits while maintaining the culture of comfort. At Monopole, that line is both assured and brilliantly clear. It's not surprising, though, when you look at the experienced team behind it. In a city that can swing in both directions of the vinous pendulum, you would be hard pressed to find a list that both acknowledges wine drinking trends yet anchors itself in quality and classicism.

REGIONAL WINE LIST OF THE YEAR

Honouring a wine list outside Sydney that displays a diverse selection that complements the restaurant's food and style while reflecting the unique qualities of the region.

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Fleet

Controversially – or not, really, when you think about the direction many wine lists around the country are going – this award goes to a restaurant that rarely has a list at all. Such is the ever-evolving nature of sommelier-restaurant manager Astrid McCormack's wine list where one day you might be drinking Sierra du Sud and the next, maybe it will be the country's only kosher rosé made in the Hunter Valley. Then again, maybe it will be neither. And therein lies the joy of drinking here. Fleet by name, fleeting by nature.

CHAMPAGNE TAITTINGER SOMMELIER OF THE YEAR

Successful wine professionals are able to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of their subject, while helping to influence and educate diners. They must be personable inclusive, curious and driven to constantly deliver the highest level of service.

Tim Watkins

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Tim Watkins is the epitome of the modern Australian sommelier. Knowledgeable, hospitable and an excellent communicator. But what sets Watkins apart is his alchemical skill when it comes to food and wine matching. The synergy between chef and sommelier is a clear and present statement at Automata with every dish intelligently matched to highlight the best of both. Watkins' smart use of all the beverages in his sommelier tool kit is what modern dining is all about. Oh, and fun fact: Watkins can also sing Happy Birthday in Italian.

BAR OF THE YEAR

The best all-round bar that nails service, drinks, vibe and decor.

Continental Deli

Fans of tinned fish, meats and cheeses can pretty much just pick up and set sail for Australia Street now and never look back. Here you can buy just about anything fit to be canned from cocktails to T-shirts. For real. You would be remiss not to barrel up to the bar, empty your wallet and tell bartender-co-owner Michael Nicolian to have at it. Unrivalled when it comes to an improved gin cocktail or even a house-made soda, he is the gentleman genius behind the Canhattan: the cocktail Sydney never knew it needed until it tried one.

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BEST BAR FOOD

Not just just a place to get a drink, this venue serves restaurant-quality, booze-friendly food in a bar setting.

Bar Brose

There so many lines being blurred at Bar Brose, it's not easy to focus. It's called a bar, but everyone is eating. It's breezy and informal, yet the kitchen is serious. The menu lists poulet au vin jaune from the French Alps, spaghetti carbonara from Rome, and a ham and pineapple jaffle from late nights everywhere. It's like your whole week of eating played out at random.

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