Australia’s real master chefs honoured at the Australian Gourmet Traveller 2011 Restaurant Guide Awards in Melbourne.
Australian Gourmet Traveller’s prestigious annual Restaurant Guide Awards is returning to Melbourne and will host Australia’s finest in the food and wine industry at the city’s venerable Flower Drum restaurant on Monday 23 August, 2010.

Nominees have been announced in all categories (with the exception of the major Restaurant of the Year Award and Outstanding Contribution to the Industry awards) in the August issue and on gourmettraveller.com.au, with six (6) states represented in various categories.

The finalists state-by-state are:

Victoria

New Restaurant of the Year: Maze, Melbourne, Vic
Sommelier of the Year: Lincoln Riley, Maze, Melbourne, Vic
Maître d’ of the Year: Adam Cash, Cutler & Co, Melbourne, Vic
Best New Talent: Aaron Turner, Loam, Drysdale, Vic
Regional Restaurant of the Year: Loam, Drysdale, Vic
Regional Restaurant of the Year: Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld, Vic

New South Wales

New Restaurant of the Year: Manly Pavilion, Sydney,
Sommelier of the Year: Franck Moreau, Est., Sydney, NSW
Wine List of the Year: Manly Pavilion, Sydney, NSW
Maître d’ of the Year: Peter Sullivan, Aria, Sydney, NSW; Aria, Brisbane, Qld
Bar of the Year: Eau-de-Vie, Sydney, NSW

Queensland

New Restaurant of the Year: Ortiga, Brisbane, Qld
Wine List of the Year: Aria Brisbane, Brisbane, Qld
Wine List of the Year: 1889 Enoteca, Brisbane, Qld
Best New Talent: Shaun Quade, Urbane, Brisbane, Qld
Bar of the Year: The Crosstown Eating House, Brisbane, Qld

South Australia

Sommelier of the Year: Michael Fullgrabe, The Wine Underground, Adelaide, SA
Regional Restaurant of the Year: Appellation, Barossa Valley, SA

Western Australia

Bar of the Year: Helvetica, Perth, WA
Best New Talent: Matt Stone, Greenhouse, Perth, WA

Tasmania

Maître d’ of the Year: Stephen Tso, Me Wah, Hobart, Tas


The Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Awards are announced in conjunction with the publication of the Gourmet Traveller 2011 Restaurant Guide. This latest edition is produced in association with boutique drinks sponsor Signé, (pronounced SIN-yah), a division of Pernod Ricard Australia.

The annual Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide is Australia’s only national guide and is the biggest-selling and most-read in the country. It offers independent, professional reviews of the country’s top 400 restaurants as well recognising individual achievements from Best New Talent to Best Regional Restaurant and of course, the coveted Restaurant of the Year.

Gourmet Traveller will also reveal its Top 100 restaurants list and honour a handful of Australia’s best restaurants with the industry’s highest accolade, a three-star rating.

The Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Awards, proudly sponsored by Signé, will be held in Melbourne at the Flower Drum, Melbourne on Monday 23 August, 2010.