The 2027 Good Food Guide Awards were announced last night at The Timber Yard to a packed house of the state’s hospitality professionals.
All eyes were on Hugh Allen, the Melbourne chef on a generational run, who swept both the Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year Award, and took home three hats for Vue de Monde and Yiaga, confirming him as Australia’s first-ever six-hat chef. Rob Libecans, Matt Stirling and Ryan Noreiks took out the Bar of the Year award for their sherry-forward cocktail cave Three Horses.
New Restaurant of the Year was a crowded field, with seasoned restaurateur Con Christopoulos and chef Matt Wilkinson’s love letter to Italy’s capital city, Roma, taking out top honours against Andrew McConnell’s Côte Basque and Rosheen Kaul’s Little Rose, among others.
Regional Victoria had a healthy showing: Warburton’s Alpine Hotel was named Pub of the Year, and the Mornington Peninsula’s Barragunda Dining won Regional Restaurant of the Year in a shortlist of heavy-hitting finalists, including Torquay’s Samesyn 2.0, Daylesford’s Bistro Merenda and High Country yakitori newcomer Koji Bird.
In the Café of the Year category, it was less avo on toast and more rich, warming and meticulously prepared bowls of chicken pho as Vietnamese café Chàm in West Melbourne took the win.
And how about the three-hat club? Yiaga joins the party alongside Brae, Amaru, Minamishima and Vue de Monde – all of which have retained their three-hat rankings.
As Hugh Allen put it last night, “f–k, this city is good”.
Congratulations to the winners – you’ll find the complete list of awardees below and the full list of places that scored hats at goodfood.com.au and on the Good Food app.
Restaurant of the Year – Yiaga
Chef of the Year – Hugh Allen, Yiaga
New Restaurant of the Year – Roma
Bar of the Year – Three Horses
Regional Restaurant of the Year – Barragunda Dining
Café of the Year – Chàm
Pub of the Year – Alpine Hotel
Service Excellence Award – Ainslie Lubbock, Pt Leo Estate
Young Chef of the Year – Kimberly Tang, Ca Com
Katie McCormack Young Service Talent Award – Kye Connors, Carnation Canteen
Sommelier of the Year – Charles Duan, Restaurant Gaea
Legend Award – Joseph Abboud
Drinks List of the Year – Côte Basque
Food for Good Award – Combat MSA
Cultural Change Champion – Safe Staff, Safe Venues
Critics’ Pick Award – Sagye
Trailblazer Award – Samuel Fraraccio, The Brick Chef