Regional restaurateurs were the grinners at The Age Good Food Guide 2017 Awards.
Carrying off some of the big gongs were Birregurra's Brae, winning Restaurant of the Year, and newcomer Igni in Geelong, which gained two hats on debut and added two trophies to its cabinet (Santa Vittoria Regional Restaurant of the Year and Citi Chef of the Year award for co-owner and chef Aaron Turner).
Swanky winery restaurant Ezard @ Levantine Hill, in the Yarra Valley, won the publicly voted People's Choice Award, and a hat.
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Also flying the flag for regional restaurants were Healesville Hotel, which regained the hat it lost last year, Patricia's Table in Milawa, which grabbed its first, and Fen in Port Fairy and Stefano's in Mildura, which both gained their second hats.
In the city and suburbs, fortunes rose for Anchovy, Bar Lourinha, Elyros, Highline at the Railway Hotel, Lee Ho Fook and Noir – all were rewarded with toques this year.
But what goes up inevitably comes down. Bistro Vue, Da Noi, Gladioli, Kenzan, MoVida Aqui, Rosetta and The Roving Marrow all lost hats.
Among the new restaurants getting among the culinary millinery were Amaru, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Embla, Estelle by Scott Pickett, French Saloon, Ides, Marion, Nora and Oter.
City and suburbs
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THREE HATS
Attica
Minamishima
Vue de Monde
TWO HATS
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Circa
Cutler & Co
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Estelle by Scott Pickett
Ezard
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Flower Drum
Grossi Florentino Upstairs
Lume
Matteo's
The Press Club
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Rockpool Bar & Grill
Saint Crispin
Spice Temple
Woodland House
ONE HAT
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Amaru
Anchovy
Bacash
Bar Lourinha
Bistro Guillaume
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Cafe Di Stasio
Cecconi's Flinders Lane
Centonove
Coda
Cumulus Inc.
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Dandelion
Donovans
Easy Tiger Smith St
Elyros
Embla
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Epocha
European
French Saloon
The Grand
Highline at the Railway Hotel
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Ides
Il Bacaro
Kappo
Lee Ho Fook
Longrain
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Maha
Marion
Merricote
Mister Jennings
MoVida
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Noir
Nora
O.My
Oter
Pei Modern
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The Point Albert Park
Rosetta
Sarti
Supernormal
Tipo 00
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Tonka
The Town Mouse
Union Dining
Regional
THREE HATS
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Brae, Birregurra
TWO HATS
Fen, Port Fairy
Igni, Geelong
Lake House, Daylesford
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Provenance, Beechworth
Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld
Stefano's, Mildura
Ten Minutes by Tractor, Main Ridge
ONE HAT
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A La Grecque, Aireys Inlet
Catfish, Ballarat
Eleonore's, Yering
Ezard at Levantine Hill, Coldstream
Gladioli, Inverleigh
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The Good Table, Castlemaine
Healesville Hotel, Healesville
Kazuki's, Daylesford
Masons of Bendigo, Bendigo
Montalto, Red Hill South
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Paringa Estate, Red Hill South
Patricia's Table, Milawa
Pickled Pig, Warrnambool
Port Phillip Estate, Red Hill South
Public Inn, Castlemaine
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Simones, Bright
Source Dining, Kyneton
Tani Eat & Drink, Bright
Terrace Restaurant, Wahgunyah
Tulip, Geelong
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