By Natascha Mirosch
Fifty Queensland restaurants are in the running to make the list of the top 100 Australian restaurants with the the launch of the inaugural The Australian Financial Review Australia's Top Restaurants, presented by Qantas Airways and Vittoria.
Five hundred restaurants, selected by Fairfax Media restaurant critics will be whittled down over the next three months by chefs and restaurateurs who will vote for their 10 favourite restaurants nationwide.
Chefs and restaurateurs will be the judges in The Australian Financial Review Australia's Top Restaurant awards.Credit: Harrison Saragossi
Renowned food writer, critic and award director Jill Dupleix said the key difference of the Top 100 Restaurant awards was that the chef and restaurateurs were in control of the vote.
"I don't believe there is another awards system in Australia like that," Ms Dupleix said. "It will make a difference. It will be fascinating to see whether the chefs vote for the status quo or whether they flip it completely upside down. It's going to be quite exciting."
The chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald, Terry Durack, said restaurant awards had traditionally been driven by critics. "But when you talk to a chef, they never ask another restaurant critic where to eat; they ask a chef," Mr Durack said.
"We may even find the chefs, who are usually critical of the critics historically, are going to find the faults are exactly the same."
Mr Durack said while all the focus in recent years has been on Melbourne and Sydney, what had happened in Australian dining was a phenomenon that had grown around the country.
"We were up in Brisbane just a few weeks ago. I haven't eaten there for about a year and we had three meals and they were all really right up there."
Ms Dupleix said she was pleased to see "fresh, new generation" dining happening in Brisbane.
"It's a lot more fun now dining at that top level than it has ever been, with dishes like the 'plate of bait' at GOMA and the excitement on the plate at Esquire. All the food we ate came from real people doing real things, not just copying what is fashionable."
Josue Lopez, executive chef at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, said the awards were a "fantastic initiative".
"That level of self-assessment and self-criticism is really refreshing. I think the good guys will get further up on the list and the universally good guys will filter out," he said. "The critics can sometimes pick up only on trends, but chefs can pick up on more and pick up on other trends that might be important for this time."
Voting for the awards will begin this month and the top 100 list will be announced in May.
Queensland's Top 50
1889 Enoteca
85 Miskin St
Aria, Brisbane
Berardo's, Noosa
Black Bird
Black Hide Steakhouse
Bucci
Catbird Seat
Chill on Tedder, Main Beach
Cinco bistro
Coast,Hervey Bay
Coppa Spuntino
Ecco
Esquire
Euro
Fish House, Burleigh Heads
Gerard's Bistro
GOMA Restaurant
Gordita
Harrisons, Port Douglas
Hellenika, Nobby Beach
Homage, Hiddenvale
Il Centro
Jellyfish
Kiyomi, Broadbeach
Longtime
Long Apron, Mountville
Lutece Bistro & Wine Bar
Malt Dining
Moda
Montrachet
Nu Nu, Palm Grove
Prive 249
Public
Reserve, Maleny
Restaurant Two
Ricky's River Bar and Restaurant, Noosa Heads
Ristorante Fellini, Main Beach
Rocksalt, Broadbeach
Sails, Noosa Heads
Sake
Salt Grill, Surfers Paradise
Seaduction, Surfers Paradise
Social Eating House, Broadbeach
Spirit House, Yandina
Tartufo
The Foraging Quail
The Peak, Maryvale
The Tamarind, Maleny
Urbane