Neil Perry rocks culinary talent pool
THE Australian’s Hottest Restaurant for 2014 happens to be run by Australia’s best-known chef and restaurateur.
PROVING that tall poppies don’t always get lopped, The Australian’sHottest Restaurant for 2014 also happens to be run by Australia’s best-known chef and restaurateur.
Neil Perry’s Rockpool — 25 years young yet reimagined and reinvented this year in a dramatic heritage site on Sydney’s Bridge Street — has grabbed the flag in our annual collection of the nation’s restaurants that matter, the Hot 50.
The combination of glamorous “movie set-like” interior design, outstanding service, an unparalleled wine program and the sublime, Chinese-accented food of head chef Phil Wood has created an immersive experience unmatched in Australia today.
The dining format — a series of set small pieces followed by larger courses of the diner’s choice — contributes to an experiential product that engages and takes diners on a journey of international standing.
HOT 50 INTERACTIVE: Search the Hot 50 winners list and read reviews of every restaurant
The reborn Rockpool, which moved from The Rocks to the Burns Philp building this year, is the quintessential Sydney power-restaurant that just happens to tick every box, emphatically.
In The Weekend Australian Magazine, our team distils the past year of dining around the country to present a snapshot of the nation’s hottest food and wine experiences.
It’s an elite group of restaurants and, far from a collection of expensive dining traps, the Hot 50 is in fact a remarkably egalitarian spotlight on the chefs, sommeliers and restaurant operators of this country working hard to deliver creativity, quality and value for money.
Witness our Hottest Dish: a reinvention of a Sardinian classic — pasta and seafood — by Sydney chef Jason Saxby of the suburban restaurant Osteria di Russo & Russo. It takes an Italian spirit to a whole new place with fregola, prawn meat, squid ink, bottarga and mussel butter.
We also reveal the winners of several other coveted titles, with Hottest Chef; Hottest Dish; Hottest Value; Hottest Regional Restaurant; Hottest Service; and Hottest Wine Program among them.