FOOD DETECTIVE: Graeme Blundell November 08, 2008
Article from: The Australian
AUSTRALIAN chefs have won gold in the recent 2008 International Culinary Olympics in Germany. It's held every four years, with more than 2000 contestants competing, and it's bigger than even the Eurovision Song Contest (and almost as surreal, to judge from the YouTube clips).
Displaying formidable training, focus and determination, the Australian Culinary Olympic team won gold in the hot-food category, the headline event of the three-day competition.
Teams from eight countries competed to cook for more than 900 people in a restaurant setting. Australia also picked up gold, bronze and silver in the pastry section, silver in the cold buffet category and bronze for hot food (plated cold).
The Australian team was made up of Shane Keighley, Neil Abrahams, John Lanzafame, Shannon Kellam, Jenni Key, Matt McBain, Andre Kropp and Daniel Hiltbrunner.
Acting Detective can't wait for the reality television series. Anything to bump Great British Menu from the world's cable food networks.
It's a show increasingly seasoned with culinary paranoia and, besides, who cares what the French think? www.culinary-olympics.com.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Belgian Beer cafe to open in Balmain
The world renowned beer culture of Europe is set to be shared with the residents of the inner west when the Belgian Beer Café opens in Balmain, Sydney later this month.
Overseeing the Balmain Belgian Beer Café is Belgian, Olivier Massart, who established the Epoque and Heritage Belgian Beer Cafes.
The opening of the Balmain Café will signal a diversification of the pub culture existing in Balmain which currently has the most pubs per capita of anywhere in Australia.
Specially-trained bartenders will pull the famous Belgian beers following the 9 step pouring process which is an art in itself, with customised glasses for each brew and the customary two fingers of foam at the top.
As the best selling Belgian beer in the world, Stella Artois is one of the premium beers which will feature on the menu and is brewed using only natural ingredients.
Hoegaarden, known as white beer and brewed using mineral water, malted barley, hops and spiced with coriander and orange peel and Leffe which is the authentic monastic beer with rich taste, full body and is still brewed according to the Leffe Abbey Fathers’ ancient recipe will also feature on the extensive beer menu.
The menu at the Balmain Belgian Beer Café features traditional cuisine including steamed mussels served in traditional pots, cheese croquette, Flemish beef stew and steak et frites.
The dessert menu uses the finest Belgian Callebaut chocolate with offerings including Dame Blanche, chocolate mousse and Belgian waffles.
With its opening only weeks away, the Balmain Belgian Beer Café will immerse guests in Belgian food prepared with French finesse, served with German generosity and accompanied with Belgian beer.
Overseeing the Balmain Belgian Beer Café is Belgian, Olivier Massart, who established the Epoque and Heritage Belgian Beer Cafes.
The opening of the Balmain Café will signal a diversification of the pub culture existing in Balmain which currently has the most pubs per capita of anywhere in Australia.
Specially-trained bartenders will pull the famous Belgian beers following the 9 step pouring process which is an art in itself, with customised glasses for each brew and the customary two fingers of foam at the top.
As the best selling Belgian beer in the world, Stella Artois is one of the premium beers which will feature on the menu and is brewed using only natural ingredients.
Hoegaarden, known as white beer and brewed using mineral water, malted barley, hops and spiced with coriander and orange peel and Leffe which is the authentic monastic beer with rich taste, full body and is still brewed according to the Leffe Abbey Fathers’ ancient recipe will also feature on the extensive beer menu.
The menu at the Balmain Belgian Beer Café features traditional cuisine including steamed mussels served in traditional pots, cheese croquette, Flemish beef stew and steak et frites.
The dessert menu uses the finest Belgian Callebaut chocolate with offerings including Dame Blanche, chocolate mousse and Belgian waffles.
With its opening only weeks away, the Balmain Belgian Beer Café will immerse guests in Belgian food prepared with French finesse, served with German generosity and accompanied with Belgian beer.
Annual International Barista Competition
On the 13th and 14th November, Vanuatu, a tropical island in the South Pacific, is holding its annual International Barista Competition. Barista Coffee is the professional excellence in the artistry of making a great coffee.
Coffee experts and amateur coffee makers from all over the world will confer on how to make the best expresso coffee. International Barista judge, Rob Forsyth from Sydney Australia, will oversee the event and judge the entries.
The competition will be held in the grounds of the newly refurbished Le Lagon Resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with many special accommodation deals being offered to visitors to Vanuatu. Vanuatu grows its own world famous organic coffee, Tanna Coffee, on the tropical island of Tanna.
“We held our first competition last year, which was such a success that the Barista Vanuatu is now an annual event on the Vanuatu calendar,” said hotel owner and Barista organizer, Joanne Wade of Poppys on the Lagoon. “The atmosphere around Port Vila during the competition time and the prizes alone, including air fares, are enough to draw numerous entrants. It is an unbeatable location for this international event.”
Coffee growing and appreciation of good coffee makers has grown dramatically worldwide, in the past few years. Organically grown coffee beans now feature on supermarket shelves and making café latte has become café art.
Major sponsors of the 2008 Barista Vanuatu include the ANZ bank, Air Vanuatu, Poppys on the Lagoon, Le Lagon Resort, Friendly Bungalows on Tanna, Tanna Coffee
Entries can be made on the Barista Vanuatu official web site www.baristavanuatu.com
Coffee experts and amateur coffee makers from all over the world will confer on how to make the best expresso coffee. International Barista judge, Rob Forsyth from Sydney Australia, will oversee the event and judge the entries.
The competition will be held in the grounds of the newly refurbished Le Lagon Resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with many special accommodation deals being offered to visitors to Vanuatu. Vanuatu grows its own world famous organic coffee, Tanna Coffee, on the tropical island of Tanna.
“We held our first competition last year, which was such a success that the Barista Vanuatu is now an annual event on the Vanuatu calendar,” said hotel owner and Barista organizer, Joanne Wade of Poppys on the Lagoon. “The atmosphere around Port Vila during the competition time and the prizes alone, including air fares, are enough to draw numerous entrants. It is an unbeatable location for this international event.”
Coffee growing and appreciation of good coffee makers has grown dramatically worldwide, in the past few years. Organically grown coffee beans now feature on supermarket shelves and making café latte has become café art.
Major sponsors of the 2008 Barista Vanuatu include the ANZ bank, Air Vanuatu, Poppys on the Lagoon, Le Lagon Resort, Friendly Bungalows on Tanna, Tanna Coffee
Entries can be made on the Barista Vanuatu official web site www.baristavanuatu.com
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A $100,000 mistake - Can your restaurant afford it?
http://www.informations2u.info
by Malcolm J. Richmond
When people walk into your restaurant to eat, they are putting their trust in you. They blindly have faith that you will serve them food that is fresh and safe to eat.
There are several restaurants in Australia right now that are paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and settlements because they served contaminated food to patrons who became seriously ill and, in one particular case, died.
How can you be sure that the food which comes out of your kitchen is safe to eat?
Even one mistake which leads to customer illness can seriously and permanently damage the reputation of your business.
In most cases, these are mistakes which could be easily avoided.
Salmonella is one of the most common food borne illnesses; it causes diarrhoea, cramping, dehydration and vomiting in those affected. Salmonella is most commonly a result of poor food sanitation and cooking food at insufficient temperatures.
In 2004, food from the Sofia Pizza restaurant sickened at least 33 patrons.
In 2003, 135 people who had become ill as a result of the food served at Thanh Phu in Footscray filed a class action suit.
You can’t assume that this could never happen to your business; be sure to protect your restaurant.
Food safety should be a primary concern for anyone who owns a restaurant or catering business.
There are strict regulations in place in Victoria, Australia regarding the requirements food served to the public must meet.
There are different authorities with whom you must register, depending on what sort of food your business serves. Standards for the import and export of foodstuffs also exist.
The Food Safety Program (or FSP) lists the requirements which are necessary to keep your kitchen clean and the food you serve safe for your customers to eat.
All measuring devices have to be calibrated at least once a year and tested halfway through each year.
Kitchens must keep a log detailing when foods have been thawed so it is known by what time these foods must be used.
Delivery trucks and package temperatures must also be logged, as must the time when foods are to be discarded if not used.
The FSP stipulates that fines be levied if the regulations are not adhered to. The regulations apply not just to restaurants, but also to food stores and even stands which serve food.
by Malcolm J. Richmond
When people walk into your restaurant to eat, they are putting their trust in you. They blindly have faith that you will serve them food that is fresh and safe to eat.
There are several restaurants in Australia right now that are paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and settlements because they served contaminated food to patrons who became seriously ill and, in one particular case, died.
How can you be sure that the food which comes out of your kitchen is safe to eat?
Even one mistake which leads to customer illness can seriously and permanently damage the reputation of your business.
In most cases, these are mistakes which could be easily avoided.
Salmonella is one of the most common food borne illnesses; it causes diarrhoea, cramping, dehydration and vomiting in those affected. Salmonella is most commonly a result of poor food sanitation and cooking food at insufficient temperatures.
In 2004, food from the Sofia Pizza restaurant sickened at least 33 patrons.
In 2003, 135 people who had become ill as a result of the food served at Thanh Phu in Footscray filed a class action suit.
You can’t assume that this could never happen to your business; be sure to protect your restaurant.
Food safety should be a primary concern for anyone who owns a restaurant or catering business.
There are strict regulations in place in Victoria, Australia regarding the requirements food served to the public must meet.
There are different authorities with whom you must register, depending on what sort of food your business serves. Standards for the import and export of foodstuffs also exist.
The Food Safety Program (or FSP) lists the requirements which are necessary to keep your kitchen clean and the food you serve safe for your customers to eat.
All measuring devices have to be calibrated at least once a year and tested halfway through each year.
Kitchens must keep a log detailing when foods have been thawed so it is known by what time these foods must be used.
Delivery trucks and package temperatures must also be logged, as must the time when foods are to be discarded if not used.
The FSP stipulates that fines be levied if the regulations are not adhered to. The regulations apply not just to restaurants, but also to food stores and even stands which serve food.
Retail is on the brink - so let's act
http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au
Michael Baker
Year-over-year sales of food service establishments - that is, cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets have imploded, from a growth rate of almost 10% last year to -1.0% in the past couple of months.
Food service in Australia is dominated by small businesses.
According to Restaurant and Catering Australia, a trade association representing the food service industry, 91% of the industry is comprised of companies with less than 20 employees and 94% have an annual turnover of less than $1 million.
The result of a protracted downturn will be a shakeout of small players and the rationalisation of real estate portfolios among larger ones.
The impact will not be restricted to the food retailers themselves but will flow on to their landlords as well.
For example, food service establishments in regional shopping centres pay out a hefty 17% of their sales in occupancy costs (rent plus a share of operating expenses).
They are extremely valuable contributors to shopping centre operating income.Other retail sectors are headed for trouble as well. Home goods of all kinds are under pressure and a recession would raise the distinct possibility of the bankruptcy of a major department store chain.
What's to be done?
First, retailers need to do the right thing by their customers.
Of course they need to contain inventories and cut costs where it makes sense but they must not cave in to the temptation to decapitate every little expense in the hope that extreme parsimony will somehow keep them alive. This is the way to lose not just your customers but your best employees as well.
Second, there's the government.
Retailers don't need a handout but they do need a strong counter-cyclical fiscal policy.
Canberra should be prepared to do even more in the months ahead on top of the $10.4 billion program already committed.
Practicing fiscal restraint when the global economy is in dire straits and the government has a budget surplus is a throwback to Herbert Hoover in 1928. Look where that got us.
Third, the RBA needs to stay its current course.
With the CPI at 5% and the Australian dollar under siege there is a case for increasing interest rates and not lowering them. But it can't go back now.
It has started down the road of supporting growth and it needs to stick to that policy unequivocally.
Fourth, small independent retailers might need a hand from their landlords on rent.
Except in the very strongest shopping centres and retail strips, this will come to be in the landlords' best interests.
The alternative is to churn tenants and in this economic environment churning is a poor property management policy.
These four things will help small retailers.
As the pragmatic Monsieur Delcour says, we can't escape being in the economy. But we can certainly make it more comfortable for ourselves.
Michael Baker is a global retail and property analyst and consultant. He can be contacted at: Michael_Baker@earthlink.net
Michael Baker
Year-over-year sales of food service establishments - that is, cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets have imploded, from a growth rate of almost 10% last year to -1.0% in the past couple of months.
Food service in Australia is dominated by small businesses.
According to Restaurant and Catering Australia, a trade association representing the food service industry, 91% of the industry is comprised of companies with less than 20 employees and 94% have an annual turnover of less than $1 million.
The result of a protracted downturn will be a shakeout of small players and the rationalisation of real estate portfolios among larger ones.
The impact will not be restricted to the food retailers themselves but will flow on to their landlords as well.
For example, food service establishments in regional shopping centres pay out a hefty 17% of their sales in occupancy costs (rent plus a share of operating expenses).
They are extremely valuable contributors to shopping centre operating income.Other retail sectors are headed for trouble as well. Home goods of all kinds are under pressure and a recession would raise the distinct possibility of the bankruptcy of a major department store chain.
What's to be done?
First, retailers need to do the right thing by their customers.
Of course they need to contain inventories and cut costs where it makes sense but they must not cave in to the temptation to decapitate every little expense in the hope that extreme parsimony will somehow keep them alive. This is the way to lose not just your customers but your best employees as well.
Second, there's the government.
Retailers don't need a handout but they do need a strong counter-cyclical fiscal policy.
Canberra should be prepared to do even more in the months ahead on top of the $10.4 billion program already committed.
Practicing fiscal restraint when the global economy is in dire straits and the government has a budget surplus is a throwback to Herbert Hoover in 1928. Look where that got us.
Third, the RBA needs to stay its current course.
With the CPI at 5% and the Australian dollar under siege there is a case for increasing interest rates and not lowering them. But it can't go back now.
It has started down the road of supporting growth and it needs to stick to that policy unequivocally.
Fourth, small independent retailers might need a hand from their landlords on rent.
Except in the very strongest shopping centres and retail strips, this will come to be in the landlords' best interests.
The alternative is to churn tenants and in this economic environment churning is a poor property management policy.
These four things will help small retailers.
As the pragmatic Monsieur Delcour says, we can't escape being in the economy. But we can certainly make it more comfortable for ourselves.
Michael Baker is a global retail and property analyst and consultant. He can be contacted at: Michael_Baker@earthlink.net
Brewing up a storm
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Cameron Cooper October 31, 2008
THE popularity of craft beers promises to consign to history the last vestiges of Australia's tribal drinking history.In days past, it was a brave Queenslander or West Australian who drank anything but Fourex or Swan, for example, while drinkers in other states largely stuck with home brands such as Victoria Bitter and Tooheys.
With micro-brewery numbers trebling to more than 150 in the past five years, beer drinkers' palates are becoming far more sophisticated.
One label of craft, or boutique, beers that has a strong following is Little Creatures, a Fremantle brewery in Western Australia whose pale ale received gongs such as Beer of the Year in the BBC's Good Food magazine a few years ago.
Howard Cearns, a co-founder and director of Little Creatures Brewing Co, says beer drinkers are following the lead of other beverage lovers in "trading up''.
"People have looked for better tasting coffee and better tasting wine, and beer is not unlike that,'' he says.
A significant shareholder in Little Creatures is international brewing giant Lion Nathan.
The investment demonstrates the growing clout of smaller brewers. Foster's bought another boutique beer leader, Matilda Bay Brewing Co, in the early 1990s, while Coca-Cola Amatil last year bought the Hunter region's Bluetongue, a popular NSW label.
Cearns admits micro-breweries will never be able to compete with the marketing budgets of the brewing giants, so ``the product is your advantage''. He urges patience, too, noting that the Little Creatures business model is gaining momentum after 10 years' experience in the industry.
"It's not something that happens overnight.''
Nevertheless, business research group IBISWorld is forecasting 10 per cent annual growth in the micro-brewery sector to 2013. In a national beer sector that generates about $8 billion a year in sales, the boutique brands still account for less than 10 per cent of total industry revenue.
Audrey Riddell, an IBISWorld analyst, says the most popular new brews are coming from imported beers and micro-breweries.
"This indicates that there's a strong desire for variety and a willingness to pay for it,'' she says.
While some industry mergers have occurred, Riddell says many micro-brewers are "fiercely independent'' and want to operate separately from the big brewing companies.
She notes that regional areas are popular for micro-breweries because of lower rental rates and an ability to combine brew pubs with local tourism attractions.
The unknown factor is how the present economic turmoil will affect demand for craft beers, which are often more expensive than mainstream counterparts. Riddell suggests immediate demand could slow, although she expects sector growth over the next five years.
"With decreased consumer confidence, we are expecting to see it possibly go back towards larger brewers and those micro-breweries that have gained sufficient scale to compete on a cost basis.''
One pub that has become a hangout for craft beer devotees is the Grand Central Hotel in Brisbane, which serves novel beers such as Yippy IPA, Juniper Pale Ale and Brutal Bitter.
So serious about boutique beer is the hotel that it has launched its own "brand'', the Rubber Stamp, which acts as a tick of approval for a brew. If it has the Rubber Stamp, drinkers know it has passed the test of a panel of staff and independent brewers.
Boutique brews with the Rubber Stamp certification will be distributed through a network of hotels and bottle shops, giving craft brewers greater exposure.
"Straight away there's a channel for them to push their product,'' says Matt Coorey, the hotel's general manager and one of the brains behind Rubber Stamp."
Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and Australians are very much looking for different things and I think beer is just following on from that.''
Fiona Reddaway, a partner of Bright Brewery in Victoria, is confident the fast growth of micro-breweries will continue.
"I feel like the beer industry is where the wine industry was in the early 1980s,'' she says. "Can you remember when the wine choice was just white or red?''
She adds that it is becoming less acceptable for people to drink to excess.
"So it's turned from a quantity to a quality topic.''
Bright Brewery produces a range of brews, including its raspberry lambic (rose-coloured with a creamy pink head), a hellfire amber ale (aromatic and moderately bitter) and a blowhard pale ale (an American-style beer with a citrus aroma).
Reddaway says the key to craft beers is the quality of ingredients.
"You've got to use terrific ingredients with no compromise,'' she says. "You're never going to get fabulous flavour out of ordinary ingredients.''
To facilitate ongoing growth, the sector is lobbying to bring federal excise rules on small breweries into line with small wineries, which effectively get a tax break to help them combat the industry giants.
Cearns believes Australia will follow the US craft beer market, which has been strong for at least three decades."So that gives us confidence.''
Underlining its self-assurance, Little Creatures has just commissioned another brewery for Western Australia and has plans to set up another in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. At all times, the focus will be on maintaining a consistent quality of beer and protecting the brand.
"You don't want to disappoint your drinkers,'' Cearns says. "Brand for us is everything.''
Cameron Cooper October 31, 2008
THE popularity of craft beers promises to consign to history the last vestiges of Australia's tribal drinking history.In days past, it was a brave Queenslander or West Australian who drank anything but Fourex or Swan, for example, while drinkers in other states largely stuck with home brands such as Victoria Bitter and Tooheys.
With micro-brewery numbers trebling to more than 150 in the past five years, beer drinkers' palates are becoming far more sophisticated.
One label of craft, or boutique, beers that has a strong following is Little Creatures, a Fremantle brewery in Western Australia whose pale ale received gongs such as Beer of the Year in the BBC's Good Food magazine a few years ago.
Howard Cearns, a co-founder and director of Little Creatures Brewing Co, says beer drinkers are following the lead of other beverage lovers in "trading up''.
"People have looked for better tasting coffee and better tasting wine, and beer is not unlike that,'' he says.
A significant shareholder in Little Creatures is international brewing giant Lion Nathan.
The investment demonstrates the growing clout of smaller brewers. Foster's bought another boutique beer leader, Matilda Bay Brewing Co, in the early 1990s, while Coca-Cola Amatil last year bought the Hunter region's Bluetongue, a popular NSW label.
Cearns admits micro-breweries will never be able to compete with the marketing budgets of the brewing giants, so ``the product is your advantage''. He urges patience, too, noting that the Little Creatures business model is gaining momentum after 10 years' experience in the industry.
"It's not something that happens overnight.''
Nevertheless, business research group IBISWorld is forecasting 10 per cent annual growth in the micro-brewery sector to 2013. In a national beer sector that generates about $8 billion a year in sales, the boutique brands still account for less than 10 per cent of total industry revenue.
Audrey Riddell, an IBISWorld analyst, says the most popular new brews are coming from imported beers and micro-breweries.
"This indicates that there's a strong desire for variety and a willingness to pay for it,'' she says.
While some industry mergers have occurred, Riddell says many micro-brewers are "fiercely independent'' and want to operate separately from the big brewing companies.
She notes that regional areas are popular for micro-breweries because of lower rental rates and an ability to combine brew pubs with local tourism attractions.
The unknown factor is how the present economic turmoil will affect demand for craft beers, which are often more expensive than mainstream counterparts. Riddell suggests immediate demand could slow, although she expects sector growth over the next five years.
"With decreased consumer confidence, we are expecting to see it possibly go back towards larger brewers and those micro-breweries that have gained sufficient scale to compete on a cost basis.''
One pub that has become a hangout for craft beer devotees is the Grand Central Hotel in Brisbane, which serves novel beers such as Yippy IPA, Juniper Pale Ale and Brutal Bitter.
So serious about boutique beer is the hotel that it has launched its own "brand'', the Rubber Stamp, which acts as a tick of approval for a brew. If it has the Rubber Stamp, drinkers know it has passed the test of a panel of staff and independent brewers.
Boutique brews with the Rubber Stamp certification will be distributed through a network of hotels and bottle shops, giving craft brewers greater exposure.
"Straight away there's a channel for them to push their product,'' says Matt Coorey, the hotel's general manager and one of the brains behind Rubber Stamp."
Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and Australians are very much looking for different things and I think beer is just following on from that.''
Fiona Reddaway, a partner of Bright Brewery in Victoria, is confident the fast growth of micro-breweries will continue.
"I feel like the beer industry is where the wine industry was in the early 1980s,'' she says. "Can you remember when the wine choice was just white or red?''
She adds that it is becoming less acceptable for people to drink to excess.
"So it's turned from a quantity to a quality topic.''
Bright Brewery produces a range of brews, including its raspberry lambic (rose-coloured with a creamy pink head), a hellfire amber ale (aromatic and moderately bitter) and a blowhard pale ale (an American-style beer with a citrus aroma).
Reddaway says the key to craft beers is the quality of ingredients.
"You've got to use terrific ingredients with no compromise,'' she says. "You're never going to get fabulous flavour out of ordinary ingredients.''
To facilitate ongoing growth, the sector is lobbying to bring federal excise rules on small breweries into line with small wineries, which effectively get a tax break to help them combat the industry giants.
Cearns believes Australia will follow the US craft beer market, which has been strong for at least three decades."So that gives us confidence.''
Underlining its self-assurance, Little Creatures has just commissioned another brewery for Western Australia and has plans to set up another in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. At all times, the focus will be on maintaining a consistent quality of beer and protecting the brand.
"You don't want to disappoint your drinkers,'' Cearns says. "Brand for us is everything.''
Restaurant & Catering Australia Awards for Excellence
NSW restaurants, cafes and caterers took the lion's share of awards at Monday night's Savour Australia Restaurant&Catering Australia Awards for Excellence.
And again it was Sydney's Quay restaurant that received top honours. The Circular Quay-based restaurant was named fine dining restaurant of the year, following similar awards from The Sydney Morning Herald and Gourmet Traveller earlier in the year. Says executive chef Peter Gilmore: "The Restaurant & Catering industry award tops off what has been a phenomenal year for us. We are thrilled and very humbled to have been recognised."
Meanwhile, Oscillate Wildly, in Sydney's Newtown, took the gong for best informal dining. The judging panel voted Pilu at Freshwater, near Sydney's Manly Beach, as the country's best Italian restaurant, while the award for best new restaurant also went to a Sydney establishment: Pendolino in the city centre's Strand Arcade.
Other states did get a look-in: Victoria's Lake House in Daylesford took out the best tourism restaurant award; best Indian went to Adelaide's Jasmin Indian Restaurant and best Chinese was awarded to Me Wah Restaurant in Hobart's Sandy Bay. Perth got a gong for best coffee shop-tea room for milkd, in North Perth.
The awards night also featured the launch of the industry's Green Table Australia initiative, aimed at encouraging the nation's more than 37,000 restaurants and caterers to cut their carbon emissions. www.savouraustralia.com.au; www.greentable.com.au.
And again it was Sydney's Quay restaurant that received top honours. The Circular Quay-based restaurant was named fine dining restaurant of the year, following similar awards from The Sydney Morning Herald and Gourmet Traveller earlier in the year. Says executive chef Peter Gilmore: "The Restaurant & Catering industry award tops off what has been a phenomenal year for us. We are thrilled and very humbled to have been recognised."
Meanwhile, Oscillate Wildly, in Sydney's Newtown, took the gong for best informal dining. The judging panel voted Pilu at Freshwater, near Sydney's Manly Beach, as the country's best Italian restaurant, while the award for best new restaurant also went to a Sydney establishment: Pendolino in the city centre's Strand Arcade.
Other states did get a look-in: Victoria's Lake House in Daylesford took out the best tourism restaurant award; best Indian went to Adelaide's Jasmin Indian Restaurant and best Chinese was awarded to Me Wah Restaurant in Hobart's Sandy Bay. Perth got a gong for best coffee shop-tea room for milkd, in North Perth.
The awards night also featured the launch of the industry's Green Table Australia initiative, aimed at encouraging the nation's more than 37,000 restaurants and caterers to cut their carbon emissions. www.savouraustralia.com.au; www.greentable.com.au.
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