History made: Huge honour for restaurant revolutionising Toowoomba’s dining scene

A Toowoomba restaurant has become one of the region’s top dining options after receiving the prestigious honour of a chef’s hat – without even trying.

The Plate Restaurant head chef Sonny Cabot (left) and bar manager Dixie Redding, Thursday, March 30, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

A down-to-earth restaurant revolutionising Toowoomba’s dining scene is now a must-visit food destination for regional Queensland after it received a hat, less than one year after opening its cellar doors.

The Plate Restaurant Bar and Brewery is a modern Australian restaurant highlighting the Darling Downs’s freshest produce, alongside its in-house butcher and brewery, in a realising country setting.

Only one other restaurant in Toowoomba had been hatted.

The Plate general manager Ryan McBurney said the announcement “came completely out of the blue in February,” but the entire team was proud, given they put their heart in soul into the establishment.

(from left ) Ryan McBurney, Alister Ferguson and Tim Andersen. Bone Idol Brewery launch at The Plate Restaurant. Thursday, June 2, 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

The 41-year-old said the team had no intention of striving for a hat when it opened in March 2022, but it was a welcome and pleasant surprise.

“It’s recognition for everyone’s hard work, but the way we see it is you are only as good as your last meal,” he said.

“So it’s not like we’re sitting around and beating our chest, the onus is now on us the dig in and uphold that standard.”

Mr McBurney said the hat was a team effort, but it wouldn’t have come to fruition without the hard work of the up-and-coming chef Sonny Cabot, legendary butcher Peter Boddington, and wine expert and venue manager Mark Blackmore.

The Plate Restaurant head chef Sonny Cabot (left) and bar manager Dixie Redding, Thursday, March 30, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We’re really not this high-end hoity-toity restaurant, we’re just a group of professionals who really give a stuff about what we are doing and what we are sending out - the hat recognises that,” he said.

Mr McBurney said the team was keen to continue to share their passion and knowledge with locals regardless of their knowledge of the food industry.