Pilot flies high once again at prestigious awards

Pilot has once again been named the Best Restaurant in the ACT at The Gourmet Traveller Awards.

The awards have a 45-year history showcasing leaders and innovators from across Australia’s restaurant scene.

“The Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards recognise the incredible depth and diversity of Australia’s dining landscape and are always a highlight of the hospitality calendar,” said GT editor Joanna Hunkin.

The Ainslie fine dining restaurant is celebrating its sixth birthday this month, and this is the third Best Restaurant award it has received in four years.

Co-owner Ross McQuinn chatted to Region after a celebratory breakfast.

“It feels pretty good. We’re honestly just stoked! I sound like a broken record, but awards like this are all down to our staff: we’re so lucky and grateful to work with such a great group of people,” he said.

“It’s really nice that six years on, we can still say that we’re pushing and improving and trying to make the guest’s experience better every day.”

Seven state prizes were awarded on the night, with only the Northern Territory unrepresented. Cafe Paci won the NSW Best Restaurant Award, and chef Pasi Petanen also won the peer-voted Chef of the Year award.

The title of Best New Restaurant went to contemporary Asian restaurant King Clarence in Sydney.

11e Cave – the Parisian wine bar below Onzieme – was hoping to come away with Wine Bar of the Year (a prize previously awarded to Bar Rochford), but unfortunately, the team missed out to Bussleton’s South West Wine Shop. But even securing a nomination is a huge vote of confidence for 11e Cave, which should be rightly proud of its achievements.

Speaking to Region after their nomination for the award, 11e Cave bar manager Brett Nebauer said that the team was excited to be listed alongside such prestigious company.

“We go and visit these other bars, so to be listed alongside them feels great. We’re ecstatic even to get a nomination,” he said.

“Any nomination or award has an instant impact in terms of people hearing about you and more people coming in to give us a try.”

Farm-to-plate restaurant The Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk, Tasmania, was named Restaurant of the Year.

This is the first time that a Tasmanian restaurant has been awarded this prize by Gourmet Traveller. The award continues the trend of sustainability, and a strong relationship to produce is a key factor in the award.

The Agrarian Kitchen sources 90 per cent of its fresh produce from its on-site market garden, and they buy sustainably wild-caught fish from local fishers, celebrating underappreciated species cooked in interesting ways.

Their meat is from small-scale operations that raise animals on pasture, and they commit to purchasing and using the whole animal for a genuinely nose-to-tail experience. This is a positive indication that restaurants can successfully switch from using solely prime cuts like chicken breast and eye fillet steak.

Previous winners of this award include Brae in Victoria, another restaurant with a farm-to-table ethos proving that choosing to cook and eat environmentally is delicious and award-worthy.

The awards were held at Sydney’s Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay and sponsored by Pellegrino.

While industry awards are a fabulous way to celebrate industry leaders, they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the broad range of brilliant restaurants in Canberra (and around Australia). The hospitality industry has had a rough few years, so don’t forget to support the old favourites, locally owned businesses, and suburban gems (they’re all winners to us!)

See the complete list of winners at Gourmet Traveller.