Two chefs jointly named chef of the year, inner-west bistro wins big at Good Food Guide awards

For the first time in more than a decade, two chefs win the prestigious award. Plus, the Bill Granger Trailblazer and Legends announced, and a refreshed pub wins Pub of the Year.

October 26, 2026

The next generation of big-name chefs, sommeliers and restaurateurs emerged from a 500-strong crowd of leading industry figures to accept their accolades at the 42nd annual Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide awards, held at Carriageworks on Monday.

For the first time in more than a decade, two chefs were jointly named Oceania Cruises Chefs of the Year: Hussein Sarhan and Alex Tong, head chefs and co-owners of Newtown restaurant South End.

Good Food Guide co-editors Callan Boys and David Matthews praised the award winners for leading a broader culinary movement that reimagines high-end cooking through a lens of lo-fi approachability.

“People can engage with these dishes – they’re earnest and produce-driven, but grounded in real technique,” said Matthews. “We’ve started to see this more over the past few years, at independent restaurants such as Lo Presti’s (Redfern) and Clarence and V (CBD).”

South End serves a symphonic à la carte menu, where each dish works in harmony with the next, no matter your order, editors said – from the liver parfait to the vitello tonnato, or the Boon Luck Farm salad to the rotolo of Swiss chard and taleggio.

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While South End represents the chefs’ first foray into restaurant ownership (joined by third owner Paul Guiney, who manages front-of-house), both Sarhan and Tong are bona fide hospitality veterans, having worked as sous chef at Chippendale favourite Ester and head chef at Fred’s in Paddington, respectively.

Chef Troy Crisante, too, stepped out from his head chef role at renowned fine-diner Quay this year to lead the kitchen at Three Blue Ducks Burradoo with chefs Rhys Connell (former sous at closed three-hatted restaurant Sepia and executive chef for Etymon Projects hospitality group) and Three Blue Ducks co-founder Darren Robertson (who once ran the kitchen at now-closed Japanese fine-diner Tetsuya’s).

The Southern Highlands venture, backed by billionaire Annie Cannon-Brookes as part of agro-tourism project Burradoo Park, was named New Restaurant of the Year, presented by Aurum Poultry Co.

“You could, if you wanted to, be cynical [about it], but when the super-rich also care about farming and soil and future generations, good things – highly delicious things – can happen,” said Boys, noting the restaurant struck a careful balance between “cheffy stuff” and comforting familiarity, while holding true to the ethos of the Three Blue Ducks brand.

Three-hatted Stanmore restaurant Sixpenny was awarded T2 Tea Restaurant of the Year, an overdue recognition for one of Australia’s most exceptional restaurants, editors said.

Chef-owner Dan Puskas has pushed and refined culinary boundaries, primarily through fermentation, since the small corner terrace opened in 2012. This year marked a new era, however, as the kitchen and dining room underwent renovations – opening the pass to the public and reducing the seating capacity, allowing guests more space.

“On the floor, restaurant manager Ruby Maddison and sommelier Vincent Griffiths have continued to raise a bar set by general manager George Papaioannou,” said T2 Tea managing director Christelle Young, who presented the award.

“And then there’s the cooking, where owner Dan Puskas has progressively handed control to [head chef] Tony Schifilliti, whose fermentation odyssey has unlocked previously unseen layers of flavour.”

Sixpenny may have started as an exciting up-and-comer, said editors Boys and Matthews, but “today it has come of age, and with it, a whole generation”.

That movement continued with first-time wins for The Carlisle Castle Hotel in Newtown, awarded Pub of the Year following a refresh by the same team of young guns behind The Bat and Ball Hotel in Redfern; Kolkata Social chef-owner Ahana Dutt, who was recognised with The Bill Granger Trailblazer Award, presented by SevenRooms, for her fierce commitment to the flavours and food of her Bengali heritage; and Zoe Brunton, named Sommelier of the Year, whose adventurous and comprehensive approach has enriched wine lists at now-closed Monopole, Olympus and, soon, John Singleton’s Grand Saddles Lodge in Mount White.

Restaurant manager Monique Guest was also recognised with the Oceania Cruises Service Excellence award for pushing service to a world-class level at Josh Niland’s three-hatted Paddington restaurant Saint Peter.

Cafe of the Year went to Taguan in Darlington, a two-storey terrace where owner-operators Jose Margo Flores and Vincent Baquiran created a true third space, welcoming all with the flavours and familiarity of their Filipino home.

The new generation built upon the legends who came before them, some of whom continue to carve a path through one of hospitality’s most challenging economic periods. Among those recognised were the Bentley Group, which took home the Bar of the Year for its first dedicated bar venture, Vespertine, and Troy Rhoades-Brown, the chef-owner of Hunter Valley fine-diner Muse Restaurant, winner of Regional Restaurant of the Year.

Rhoades-Brown is an outspoken champion of regional dining who has, for the past 17 years, shown just how brilliant a restaurant can be when working closely with local producers.

The official Legend Award went to Peter Gilmore, a singular chef who has stood at the pinnacle of Australian dining for more than two decades. At his landmark restaurant Quay, Gilmore attained three hats, every year, for 23 years. He received Restaurant of the Year six times. Though the restaurant closed earlier this year, his impact on Australian cuisine will forever carry on.

The 42nd Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide reviews are now live in the Good Food app. The app is free for premium subscribers of the Herald and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.

Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney eating out and restaurant editor.

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