The NSW Restaurant of the Year finalists are revealed (and they all have something sweet in common)

Sweet tooths rejoice. Sydney’s leading restaurants are upping the ante at dessert time, staging innovative and memorable grand finales with never-before-seen creations.

In doing so, they push back against a global decline in the popularity of desserts (“Save our pudding!” The Guardian UK demands; “Where have all the pastry chefs gone?” ask several US publications).

At high-end restaurants, desserts can often be overlooked in favour of more “serious” savoury dishes.

But the finale courses for all five finalists in the Restaurant of the Year award in this year’s Good Food Guide are crafted with the same consideration and care as the first.

When celebrated chef and restaurateur Josh Niland revealed his plan to harvest the gelatin from fish eyes to create “eyes ice-cream” at Paddington restaurant Saint Peter, wife and business partner Julie Niland sighed and told him to leave it alone.

“You know how to make a nice ice-cream,” she told him. “You don’t need to do all that.”

It was a fair call, says Niland. But about eight weeks later, the “eyes ice-cream” sandwich first appeared on the seven-course tasting menu (miraculously neither tasting nor smelling like fish): a grand finale showcasing the potential of Niland’s “fin to tail” philosophy.

Saint Peter, alongside Berowra Waters Inn, Quay, Margaret and Oncore by Clare Smyth, has been chosen as a Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year finalist ahead of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide awards on October 23.

“Food has never been more expensive, and the restaurant experience has never been more expensive, so [it needs to be] more than a transaction: it needs to offer value, and connection, and education,” Niland says.

Chef Peter Gilmore, of Quay, has long pioneered a memorable dessert course. His signature dish, the “snow egg”, propelled haute cuisine into public consciousness when it first appeared on reality show MasterChef in 2010.

“It gave diners a greater understanding of what was out there, and their expectations and their palates started to evolve,” says Lauren Eldridge, pastry chef at Berowra Waters Inn.

“That only increased with the rise of social media … Now, when people go to a restaurant they want the very best, something they would never make for themselves.

“It lifted the standard.”

“White coral” followed with Gilmore’s characteristic theatrics, a plume of liquid nitrogen smoke fading to reveal frozen white chocolate mousse that shatters upon first touch.

“Dessert is so important because it’s the last thing people take away with them; it’s the memory they have of a meal,” Gilmore says.

At chef Neil Perry’s Double Bay restaurant Margaret, named for his late mother, each dessert encapsulates and shares a memory. Most notably, there are the slices of “Sam and Neil’s wedding cake” (a white sponge, spiked with bourbon and layered with Italian meringue: an exact replica of Perry’s wedding cake served at Bennelong in 2003).

“People have a taste, an experience, of what we did at our wedding,” Perry says.

“[The dessert] creates personal contact through flavour and texture.”

Eldridge says there’s been a renewed shift towards dedicated dessert departments in Sydney. At Berowra Waters Inn, Eldridge contributes three courses, or 50 per cent of the set menu.

Eldridge looks to the surrounding bushland for inspiration, creating visually spectacular dishes such as the Geraldton wax (native flower) parfait, with new season mangoes and lemon blueberry sauce.

Desserts at Oncore by Clare Smyth are similarly emblematic of place, merging classic British desserts (a nod to Chef Patron Clare Smyth in London) with Australian produce. Sometimes it takes just a week from conception to plating (as with English Pimms, a strawberry, cucumber and mint salad). Others, like the yet-to-be-served peach Melba, have been in development for years.

“The core apple dessert is a prime example. We began by replicating what we do in London then, after a year, pushed ourselves to do more,” says head chef Alan Stuart.

The current incarnation appears as a glassy, glazed apple, filled with apple vanilla mousse and caramelised pink lady compote, and served with a three-apple cocktail in a hand-blown apple-shaped glass.

“Desserts can speak to our values, our culture, and our ideas about hospitality,” Stuart says.

“In many restaurants, like Quay or L’Ambroisie [in Paris], they become signature dishes, and become known throughout the world.”

Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year finalists

Berowra Waters Inn

Want to know how to do sweets? Try the pre-dessert at Berowra Waters to set off the senses. Simple in presentation; complex and alluring in the mouth. But this is pastry chef Lauren Eldridge’s handiwork, so it’s no surprise her sticky fig pudding almost steals the show, too. The fact it doesn’t owes as much to the perpetually stunning river view as it does to the rest of chef Brian Geraghty’s tasting menu. The result is destination dining that lives up to the billing.

Via East and West Public Wharves, Berowra Waters, berowrawatersinn.com

Margaret

Produce from the very best farmers and fishers, well-honed Asian spicing, earthy Mediterranean notes and the smoky seal of a wood-fired grill. In this expansive tan and cream-toned dining room, Neil Perry and family – with a terrific team – do it right. From a charming welcome to accommodating wine service, Margaret ticks all the boxes on the floor. And whether it’s scallop crudo popping with finger lime, or grill-firmed mahi-mahi in a spoonable coconut masala sauce, the food just works.

30-36 Bay Street, Double Bay, margaretdoublebay.com

Oncore by Clare Smyth

Oncore opened in Sydney in 2021, bringing with it a different approach to fine dining – a more detailed, finessed, and yes, more expensive approach, as befits the three-Michelin-star status of the London mothership, Clare Smyth’s Core. Now in its third year, Oncore offers the serious diner even more, with a new seasonal menu allowing head chef Alan Stuart to respond with more truffles in winter; more shellfish in summer.

Level 26, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney.com.au/restaurants/oncore-by-clare-smyth

Quay

Quay has reached the same elevated status as those luxury cruise liners that commonly moor by its side. It has first-class levels of comfort, and high standards of hospitality – and boy, does it take you places. Chef Peter Gilmore’s six and eight-course menus sail on a sea of umami, navigating rare and extraordinary flavours. Throw in six sommeliers, that view and an ocean-deep wine list, and this is Sydney’s most treasured dining experience.

Upper Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, quay.com.au

Saint Peter

Josh Niland’s approach to fish is unrivalled. He’s made it his life’s work to disrupt the way we eat and think about seafood, and his “whole fish” approach results in delicious things you won’t find elsewhere. Depth of flavour comes from dry ageing fish to promote its natural fats, and yellowfin tuna aged for 20 days and wrapped in swordfish bacon is exceptional.

362 Oxford Street, Paddington, saintpeter.com.au