“When are the hats coming back?” It’s the question I’ve fielded most since joining the Brisbane Times as Food and Culture Editor just over a year ago.

We’re not talking about some sweet merch here (although, funny you should ask). We’re talking about the hats. The chef hats.

Don’t know the hats? A restaurant ranking system introduced by the first edition of The Age Good Food Guide in 1979, it stuck as the Guide expanded to Sydney in 1984 and then, later, became a more regular print and online publication. Often shorthanded as Australia’s equivalent of Michelin stars, that’s in part because both systems use one, two and three hats (or stars for Michelin) to rank venues, but also because the review system is similarly deliberate and exhaustive.

Earning a hat as a restaurateur is difficult enough, let alone two or three (there are currently just seven three-hatted restaurants in the entire country – three each in New South Wales and Victoria, and one in South Australia). Reviewers are experienced food journalists and editors who dine anonymously and evaluate a restaurant using the Good Food 20-point scoring system (10 points for food, five for service, three for setting and experience and two for value).

Hats were last awarded in Brisbane in 2017, with Queensland coverage recently limited to a peripheral best-of list updated annually within the NSW and Victorian Good Food Guides. Now, they’re returning as Good Food once again looks to expand its coverage in both Queensland and Western Australia (a Queensland Good Food Guide? Not yet but watch this space).

It brings these states, and their capital cities in particular, back into the national conversation about food and drink just as the quality of their respective scenes begins to demand it.

It’s no secret Brisbane’s restaurant industry has undergone an enormous transformation over the past 10 years due to a confluence of factors: the arrival of top talent both from interstate and overseas, the rise of precinct dining around the city, the embrace of local produce, and the incubating effects of the pandemic.

It’s about reflecting on Brisbane’s dining scene, on what we have and what we need, and on where we’ve been and where we’re going. 

Serious local diners and restaurateurs now celebrate local restaurants not with parochial jingoism but a knowledge that the city is developing a distinct voice, just as diners from elsewhere in the country are becoming ever more curious about it.

Still, recognition from national publications has come in fits and starts, and if we’re to have a truly world-class dining scene, our venues need to be measured alongside world-class establishments in cities such as Melbourne and Sydney.

But, anyway, those people who have been asking about the return of the hats? It’s Brisbane’s own chefs and restaurateurs. Why? Because they know it’s time for our dining scene to walk the talk. Because they want to be measured against the best around the country. Because they know that, ultimately, it will make our dining scene better.

Still, this isn’t quite the Good Food of old. In Brisbane, much like everywhere, people’s dining habits are changing. Folks are getting in the car and driving across town to discover that bowl of pho or ramen or CKT they’ve heard about from a friend or seen on TikTok.

Good Food is looking to reflect that trend. In January we awarded a hat to a Perth barbecue spot where you BYO chairs. True story. And last year, we introduced “Critics’ Picks”, un-hatted venues and experiences that don’t quite reach the score of hat, whether it’s a counter-service pizzeria or a hole-in-the-wall Thai spot.

In short, don’t expect all our reviews to be all about champagne and shellfish and sirloin. Everything from cherished Brisbane classics to suburban banh mi shops is worth a look.

Because, at the end of the day, this isn’t simply about declaring what’s hot and what’s not. It’s about helping you find your next favourite date spot or noodle joint or sake-driven omakase bolthole. It’s about reflecting on Brisbane’s dining scene, on what we have and what we need, and on where we’ve been and where we’re going.

There’s so much boosterism in 2024 in the food writing and social media space. And it’s fun to champion the local industry – we do it right here, in a curated fashion.

But we also think we need more criticism in this city, and that there’s a place to take a step back, slow down and consider whether and why we should care about certain venues. We hope you think so too.

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