The Good Food Guide Chef Hats have been announced for 2024.
Only four Sydney restaurants scored three hats each.
Josh Niland’s Saint Peter has been named Restaurant of the Year.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide has once again revealed its annual snapshot of Sydney’s dining scene, marking excellence with chef hats in a similar fashion to how Michelin stars are used over in cities like London and Copenhagen.

With the 40th edition of the Good Food Guide now available, the publication’s sizeable team have collated their findings after visiting over 500 restaurants across New South Wales and the ACT in the past eight months.

And of those 500, the ultimate award, Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year, goes to Josh Niland and his pioneering seafood restaurant, Saint Peter, which recently reopened in Paddington’s Grand National Hotel.

Saint Peter is one of just four restaurants crowned with three coveted chef’s hats, with the others being Sixpenny, Quay and Oncore by Clare Smyth.

While those four restaurants sit at the top of the food chain, according to the Good Food Guide panel, there are plenty of others who performed impressively well.

A great number of Sydney restaurants have been award two chef hats each, including:

AALIA
Allta
Aria
Bathers’ Pavilion
Bennelong
Bentley Restaurant & Bar
Berowra Waters Inn
Bert’s Bar & Brasserie
Cafe Paci
Ester
Firedoor
Fred’s
Icebergs Dining Room & Bar
King Clarence
LuMi Dining
Margaret
Mimi’s
Monopole
Mr. Wong
Ormeggio at the Spit
Petermen
Pilu at Freshwater
Porteno
Rockpool Bar & Grill
Sean’s Panorama
Shell House Dining Room & Terrace
Spice Temple
Sushi Oe
Ursula’s
Yellow
Yoshii’s Omakase

While I’d personally argue for AALIA to get three hats, the Middle Eastern restaurant’s chef, Paul Farag, did walk away with a very deserving nod for Oceania Cruises Chef of the Year.

Other notable wins include Enmore’s food-truck-cum-restaurant Firepop picking up Best New Restaurant, while Cafe of the Year goes to Marrickville’s Ona Coffee. Double Deuce Lounge in the CBD took out Best Bar.

The following restaurants got a nod with one chef hat each, pointing to an increasingly impressive dining scene for the Harbour City.

10 William St
20 Chapel
a’Mare
Abhi’s Indian Restaurant
Ammos
Ante
Armorica Grand Brasserie
Attenzione!
Baba’s Place
Bar Copains
Bar Louise
Bar Totti’s
Bar Vincent
Bastardo
Bistro Geroge
Bistro Rex
Brasserie 1930
Buon Ricordo
Catalina
Chaco Bar
Cho Cho San
Civico 47
Clam Bar
Comedor
Cricca
Da Orazio
Esteban
Firepop
Fontana
Gildas
Good Luck Restaurant Lounge
Haco
Ho Jiak Town Hall
Hotel Centennial
Ito
Jane Kiln
Kindred
Kisuke
Kuon Omakase
Lana
Lankan Filling Station
Longshore
Loulou Bistro
Maiz Martinez
Matkim
Maydanoz
Morena
Ms G’s
MuMu
Nour
Oborozuki
Osteria di Russo & Russo
Palazzo Salato
Parlar
Pearl
Pellegrino 2000
Poetica Bar & Grill
Poly
Porcine
Porkfat
RAFI
Restaurant Ka
Royal Palace Seafood Restaurant
Sala Sinclair’s
Sokyo
Song Bird
Soul Dining
Sydney Common
Taste of Shunde
The Apollo
The Charles Brasserie & Bar
The Dining Room by James Viles
The Gidley
Uccello
Viand
The White Horse
Woodcut
Yan

This is the first year the Good Food Guide has also launched an app to coincide with the awards, featuring more information about all the restaurants and a handy guide on where to spend your hard-earned dollars if you want to maximise your spend and avoid disappointment.