• Full list of hats
• All the award winners

Josh Niland, the chef who introduced Sydneysiders to tuna cheeseburgers and fish-eye ice-cream, was honoured with the Good Food Guide’s top individual award at a gala event at the Art Gallery of NSW on Monday night.

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Niland was named Oceania Cruises Chef of the Year in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024. The accolade comes seven years after he opened two-hatted Paddington fish restaurant Saint Peter with wife Julie, and eight months after the couple launched their modern seafood bistro, Petermen, in St Leonards.

“The award is certainly overdue,” says Good Food Guide editor Callan Boys. “Josh has long been developing and refining techniques that make use of every part of the fish, and changing the way Australians think about cooking and eating seafood.

“It’s not all flathead mortadella, though – he also happens to fry the best fish and chips in town.”

The globally recognised chef announced plans to take his whole-fish philosophy international by opening his first overseas restaurant in Singapore, at the Singapore Edition Hotel later this year.

The Good Food Guide Awards, presented by Vittoria Coffee and Oceania Cruises, were attended by 300 of the state’s top restaurant talents. Attendees snacking on chicken liver parfait eclairs and scallop crudo inside the gallery’s Sydney Modern wing included Kylie Kwong, Neil Perry, Dan Hong and Matt Moran.

It was a notable night for Perry, whose Double Bay fine-diner Margaret was named Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year. Perry was first awarded a hat in the first edition of the Good Food Guide, published in 1984.

Back then, it was for a deft hand with “marvellous local fish” at Barrenjoey House. The same observation applies almost four decades later, says Boys.

“Neil redefined the great Australian restaurant with Rockpool in 1989. Now he’s redefining what the great seafood restaurant should be,” he says. “There are a whopping 23 entrees on the menu at Margaret, and the vast majority feature sustainable, wild-caught Australian fish.”

“It’s also just a beautiful room where you can sit back and enjoy a two-bottle lunch in the hands of a well-rehearsed floor team. Neil is in the kitchen more often than not, with wife Samantha and daughters Josephine, Macy and Indy on the floor.

“In a dining space increasingly dominated by the same hospitality groups, Sydney needs more singular family-run restaurants like it.”

However, Margaret was not awarded the coveted “three hats” bestowed on a restaurant scoring 18/20 or higher.

“You don’t need the Guide’s highest score to be named Restaurant of the Year,” says Boys.

“We’re looking for somewhere that pushes the hospitality industry forward and supports Australian producers, as well as cooking straight-up delicious food.”

Three restaurants were awarded three hats: Stanmore’s Sixpenny, Oncore by Clare Smyth at Crown, and harbourside stalwart Quay.

“There’s a reason Quay has now been awarded three hats for the past 22 years,” says Herald chief restaurant critic Terry Durack.

“That reason is chef Peter Gilmore, who sleeps, eats and breathes flavour.”

One-hatted Such and Such in Canberra stood out over spectacular contenders Clam Bar and Brasserie 1930, both with two hats and in the Sydney CBD, to take the title of Aurum Poultry Co. New Restaurant of the Year.

“Whether you’re keen for a quick pasta or longer innings featuring perfectly roasted duck with fish-sauce caramel, Such and Such never skimps on comfort or creativity,” says Boys.

“It represents everything that’s fresh and thrilling about dining across NSW and the ACT right now.”

Kylie Kwong accepted the Vittoria Coffee Legend Award for outstanding long-term contribution to the hospitality industry. Kwong, who operates South Eveleigh restaurant Lucky Kwong, was awarded an Order of Australia for her services to the industry in January.

“A long-time supporter of organic farming, and First Nations food and culture, Kwong’s influence reaches beyond the professional kitchen to affect local and global communities at all levels,” says Boys.

“A true legend.”

Meanwhile, Cafe of the Year was awarded to Happyfield in Haberfield for always making “everybody feel like somebody”, while Malay Chinese Noodle Bar in Circular Quay was the inaugural Critics’ Pick of the Year.

“This year we’ve introduced a Critics’ Pick tick to the Guide for places that don’t quite reach the score for a hat – perhaps it’s a counter-service pizzeria, or tiny shop with only two tables – but our reviewers are big fans of the food and experience regardless,” Boys says.

“The Woon family behind Malay Chinese have nourished Sydneysiders since 1987 with extraordinary noodle soups and laksas. It was fantastic to have Malay Chinese co-founder Meng Woon accept the award with his daughter Wendy, before heading home for a 4am rise to start preparing broths.”

Boys says this year will go down as the year restaurant groups strengthened their hold on Sydney’s dining scene, especially in the CBD and inner-eastern suburbs.

“It’s been happening for years in New York or London, and now we’re seeing it in Sydney with a lot more groups than just Justin Hemmes’ Merivale.

“A mediocre venue closes, and a deep-pocketed hospitality group swoops in to take control of the site and open a glitzy new joint. With a crack team of chefs and managers to move between restaurants, these group-run establishments are often at the top of their game, too.

“But I worry about smaller operators being priced out of the industry. It will be a sad state of dining if every new opening has been designed by the same formula of low-risk concept, plus proven chef and million-dollar fit-out equals success.”

Among the dozens of new restaurants, several independent venues have emerged, including Darlinghurst sake bar Amuro, Surry Hills Sri Lankan restaurant Kurumba, and Euro wine bar Caravin, in Potts Point.

“Sydney can never have enough exciting, independent restaurants like Haymarket’s hatted Thai eatery Porkfat, or Strathfield’s sprawling Korean diner Hansang,” Boys says.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 is on sale on Tuesday at newsagents.