5 Newly-awarded Chef Hat Winners You Need to Dine At!

Continuing the excitement from the announcement of the 2024 AGFG Chef Hat Awards on January 17, let us take you on a culinary journey around the country to award-winning restaurants you need to dine at.

This year’s awards saw 96 new Chef-hatted restaurants make their debut – here are five that definitely need your attention to include on your dining radar:

Those looking for a fine Modern Australian dining experience presented in an intimate setting head to Little Truffle Dining Room & Bar on Gold Coast Highway in Mermaid Beach. This elegant restaurant has undergone a complete transformation now featuring a deep navy colour palette, brushed brass fittings, dramatic velvet curtains, dark timber floors and stunning artwork, setting the scene for lingering over a memorable meal with someone special.

 

Choose from à la carte or four-course menu options and start your feast with dishes like country terrine, pickled vegetables and tarragon mayonnaise, before mains such as duck breast cassoulet, Toulouse sausage, Alsace bacon, haricot beans and province herbs.

Plant-based modern Sichuan cuisine is what awaits Collingwood diners at Shu Restaurant on Johnson Street. Named after owner and Chef, Shu Liu, chill out in fun and funky surrounds of neon lighting, clear plastic chairs, potted greenery and wire sculptures hanging from the ceiling as you ponder degustation menus to tempt all palates.

 

Stop for a sake at the bar before dining on local and seasonal produce, executed with a creative mind and contemporary philosophy; stop in on Sunday for unlimited yum cha, or dine on the signature 10-course vegan degustation. Think beautifully plated offerings like silken tofu, chilli jam, fermented soybeans, soy milk, dill oil, seaweed caviar and fish mint.

Find an intimate wine bar ideal for romantic rendezvous and after-work catch-ups at Icarus on Peel Street in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD. Whether dining alfresco on balmy nights, indoors where curved booths await those looking to enjoy a lively conversation, or a cosy table for two in rustic surrounds of well-worn brick and softly glowing candles, this will be a meal to remember.

 

Start with bluefin tuna crudo, white anchovies, fried capers, green almond and endive, moving onto memorable mains such as venison haunch, spring salad and chocolate chilli, or Wagyu rump, charred onion, jus with sides of baby carrots and sautéed kipflers with wild garlic butter.

Discover farm-to-table Megalong Restaurant on Peach Tree Road in the beautiful Megalong Valley for a memorable Blue Mountains dining experience. Nestled amidst the LOT 101 farm and vegetable gardens just two hours from Sydney, this elegant dining destination exudes rustic charm with polished wood floors, ample natural light from bifold doors opening alfresco and softly glowing pendent lighting, ideal for romantic rendezvous or a getaway with friends.

 

A meal here is so much more than the food you eat, from menus inspired by the constant changing of the season, expect to sample the best local ingredients with vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers that are grown onsite taking centre stage. Delve into the likes of Lot 101 beef, young garlic, scapes and oyster mushroom, enjoyed with a glass of Copain Syrah.

Transporting diners to a hidden jungle town in the Hill Country of Sri Lanka, Darwin foodies head to Ella by Minoli on West Lane for flavour-packed fare with flair. This hidden haven tucked away in a quiet, unassuming pocket of the CBD welcomes you with warm hospitality where nothing is an afterthought and stepping through the doors you become family.

 

Curiosity is nurtured, there is no fear in the kitchen and Ella loves pushing culinary boundaries; think starters such as kangaroo carpaccio, apricots, mushrooms and calamansi lime salsa, then delve into larger plates like jaggery goat curry, with tomato and shallot salad, figs and sides of steamed basmati rice, papadums and housemade roti.