• Full list of hats
• All the award winners

On a night where several key restaurants were stripped of long-time accolades, The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 awards underlined both the value of chefs’ hats and just how difficult they are to retain.

As the roll-call of restaurant Good Food Guide hats was read out at the Art Gallery of NSW on Monday night, the list of omissions grew longer. Italian restaurants were particularly bruised. Stalwart Paddington restaurant Buon Ricordo lost its hat, breaking a consistent run of hats that stretches back to 1990.

Restaurant Pendolino in the CBD’s Strand Arcade lost its hat, too, after having one since the 2011 edition of the Guide. Celebrity chef Luke Mangan also took a hit, with Luke’s Kitchen and Glass Brasserie, both also in the CBD, squeezed out of the one-hat group.

Overall though, 88 new restaurants made it into the Guide. These are a combination of restaurants that have opened in the past 12 months, new discoveries, or old favourites returning. There are 157 restaurants with a hat (or two or three) across NSW and the ACT, up one from 156 in last year’s Guide, and 340 full reviews in total.

Good Food Guide editor Callan Boys says standards have never been higher in NSW restaurants, and reaching the summit of hat attainment is as tough as it has ever been. That was evident when the list of last year’s one-hat restaurants that failed to retain a hat this year climbed over 20.

“A few stalwarts have lost their hat or have been sidelined if they weren’t up to scratch. The Guide has limited page space and nostalgia isn’t a reason for inclusion,” Boys says. “In the previous edition, we may have been more lenient on service as the hospitality industry emerged from a global pandemic and there was a major shortage of staff.”

With fork and pen in hand, the Guide team adjusted its scores at the pointy end without fear or favour. Last year’s Restaurant of the Year, Firedoor, dropped from three hats to two, and Sydney restaurants Nomad, Franca Brasserie and Parlar all dipped from two hats to one.

What exactly is a hat worth? There have been attempts over the years to put a dollar value on it, but it’s difficult to calculate and varies between restaurants. Restaurateur Maurice Terzini, who has held two hats at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar since it opened in 2002 (and added to the collection last night when his new Bistro George nabbed a hat on debut), says it’s hard to ascribe a dollar value to a hat but it is significant.

“It can really set a standard for the restaurant,” he says. “That recognition of quality is good for staff, and the way a restaurant is perceived by the public and the industry. As well as the bump (in trade), it also helps attract great staff.”

It explains why award nights have witnessed some tense moments over the years, with chefs storming out, stories of mobile phones thrown in the harbour, and award certificates burned.

But there were plenty of good news stories on Monday night. Such and Such restaurant in Canberra upstaged its more fancied Sydney rivals to claim New Restaurant of the Year. And where the city’s Italian restaurants stumbled, the gap was filled by a new Italian-leaning posse, which included Sala, Palazzo Salato and Bar Totti’s. Japanese restaurants continued to impress, with Darlinghurst’s Restaurant Ka and Kame House, in Gordon, joining the hat party.

It was a particularly notable night for veteran chef Neil Perry, whose Double Bay fine-diner Margaret was awarded Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year. Perry was awarded his first hat in the inaugural edition of the Good Food Guide, published in 1984. Back then, it was for a deft hand with “marvellous local fish” at Barrenjoey House, and the same applies almost four decades later, says Boys.

There were some notable climbers, with Cirrus and Raes Dining Room at Wategos Beach jumping from one hat to two. Brasserie 1930 and Clam Bar, both on Bridge Street in the city, and Petermen in St Leonards all impressively did not pass go, travelling straight to two hats on debut.

As for the redemption stories? You’ll have to wait until next year for the next instalment.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 will be on sale from October 24.