Australia's Top Restaurants dining program highlights 2016
Australia, you're a great place to live; a luminous, living mosaic of different cultures with very different cuisines. The magic is in the mix, and that makes dining out such a buzz. The fact that we're all Australians pulls it together and shapes our restaurant scene in a very Australian way. Visitors notice it more than we do: the informal, unpretentious way we package up solid skills and serious food. It's still about aiming for excellence, but doing it in our own unique way.
That's why Australia's Top Restaurants is such a good idea. As a national list made up of the top 500 chefs and restaurateurs, it draws together very different restaurants, wine bars and bistros with very different attitudes and philosophies in the best possible snapshot of contemporary Australian dining there is. The magic, once again, is in the mix.
So here's your need-to-know. The Australia's Top 100 Restaurants awards as judged by the chefs themselves are announced on May 2, launching a dining program that runs from May 3 to May 23.
See australiastoprestaurants.com for all events and book yourself a seat. You'll not only have an awesome time doing something new, you'll be supporting the great big magical mix that is dining in Australia in 2016. Here are five events not to miss.
Buddha's Feast: All hands on deck at Low Key Chow House (WA)
Hands make the best cutlery, says Low Key Chow House, and to prove it, head chef Alexander De Leon is covering the tables with a south-east Asian banana-leaf feast of coal-charred satay, soft-shell chilli crab, Vietnamese beef patties, spicy Filipino sausages and more. And here's all you really need to know: there will be sticky wings and kimchi. Perfect for people who love to pick up their food and shove it in their mouth. And isn't that everyone?
1400 Oxford Street, Leederville, WA; $55 includes a drink on arrival; May 6, 21; noon-2pm; bookings 08 9443 9305
The Farmer v The Forager – who wins? (NSW/VIC)
Two of Australia's most influential chefs go head to head in a six-course play-off, as Scott Pickett (Estelle by Scott Pickett) and James Viles (Biota Dining) stage The Farmer and The Forager on Monday, May 16, at Biota Dining in NSW, and Wednesday May 18 at Estelle by Scott Pickett in Melbourne. We know the boys like a bit of competition, so expect them to out do each other course by course – with the diner being the winner.
Biota Dining, 18 Kangaloon Road, Bowral, NSW; $185; May 16, 6.30pm-9pm; bookings 02 4862 2005;
Estelle by Scott Pickett, 245 High Street, Northcote, VIC; $185; May 18, 6.30pm-9pm; bookings 03 9489 4609
Tabutha at Gerard's Bistro (QLD)
Gerard's Bistro head chef Ben Williamson was a man on a mission when on holidays in the Middle East late last year. His aim was to research and gather together recipes dating back 2000 to 3000 years in order to come home and prepare an elaborate Phoenician tabutha, or feast. He succeeded (some of these recipes actually came on hand-written scrolls). Expect a traditional family-style banquet of delicacies that have stood the test of time, brought to life by the passion of an obsessive chef.
Gerard's Bistro, shop 14, 15 James Street, Fortitude Valley, QLD; $140 includes matched drinks; May 11, 6pm-10pm; bookings 07 3852 38224
Death Row Dinner at the Grand (VIC)
As co-owner Barnie Bouchaud says, this one's to die for. The Grand's chef Andrew Beddoes (pictured above) has come up with his five "death row dinners" – the dishes that meant the most to him in his life and career as a high-end chef here and in the UK; the ones he'd choose for his last supper. It's going to be a fun, lively night – and hopefully not (really) his last.
The Grand, 333 Burnley Street, Richmond, VIC; $135 includes matched wines; May 10-11, 6.30pm-11pm; bookings 03 9429 2530
Andrew McConnell's Kitchen Sessions Dinner (VIC)
This is pure catnip for lovers of the restaurant scene; as Andrew's internal monthly Kitchen Sessions transform into a one-off five-course dinner that pulls in key suppliers, producers, chefs and mentors in one never-before-held celebration. "It's an incredible ideas incubator," says McConnell of his in-house initiative, "and really inspires the team to challenge their creativity and technique." This night is no different, combining Andrew McConnell and Marion head chef Josh Fry, with the imagination of David Moyle of Hobart's Franklin, the wisdom of food historian Tony Tan, Cutler & Co head chef Casey McDonald, development chefs John-Paul Twomey and (the cheese-obsessed) Colin Wood, artisan cheesemaker Richard Thomas, Meatsmith master butcher Troy Wheeler and seafood guru John Sussman. It's a privileged insight into the hard work and collaborative approach behind one of our great restaurant empires. All this, and matching wines, too.
Marion and Cutler & Co, 55-57 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, VIC; $195 includes matched drinks; May 16, 6.30pm-10.30pm; bookings 03 9419 4888
Full dining program available at australiastoprestaurants.com
Jill Dupleix is a Good Food contributor and reviewer who writes the Know-How column.