Rick Stein Accepts Award For Lyndey

What flat-lining economy ?. If last night's The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2012 launch and restaurant award announcements are anything to go by, the dining business is booming with more than 950 establishments listed including more than 100 new places to eat.

Rick Stein & Sarah Burns

The 27th edition of the book and one of the largest to date was launched last night at the magnificent 1920's Byron Kennedy Hall in the Fox Entertainment Centre (corner of Errol Flynn and Peter Finch Boulevards) with 400 guests sipping Louis Roederer champagne.

The awards consist of one, two and three hats and the usual suspects topped this year's winners. Those awarded three included Quay which regularly tops international awards, Marque in Surry Hills, a newcomer on the block Sepia in the city and Bilsons run by the Godfather of Australian modern cuisine, Tony Bilson and Est, part of Justin Hemmes' empire with chef Peter Doyle.

Porteno in Surry Hills won Plumms Wine Glasses Best New Restaurant.

Tony Bilson makes a point to Patrick Benamou

40 reviewers put together the guide and the awards presided over by the SMH restaurant reviewer Terry Durack and co-editor of the guide Joanna Saville.
 
Terry Robinson  the chef at Sepia picked up the The Josephine Pignolet Best Young Chef while one of the countries favourite food identities Lyndey Milan was awarded the Vittoria (coffee) Legend Award. Lyndey is in Ireland filming a new TV series so good pal Rick Stein jetted in to accept the award on her behalf.

A full list of the awards is here.

Terry Durack & Jill Dupleix

Rachael & Sarah Doyle from Porteno

James Valentine MCd

Kin Chen & Kylie Kwong

    

Terry Robinson from Sepia

Three Hats for Peter Gilmore of Quay

                                                                                                                 

A Recipe For Wagyu Beef From Ezekiel

That's what award winning chef Peter Gilmore told the guests last night at The Quay restaurant at a dinner to celebrate the San Pellegrino restaurant awards. Apparently the recipe was inspired the Ezekiel passages in the Bible.

Peter Gilmore

He was talking about the main dish of a lavish  banquet at Sydney's top restaurant that sits by the harbour and has spectacular views over the the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and points beyond.



The dinner for about 25 was in the upstairs dining room that was once an outlook station for pilots when The Quay was a part of the Overseas Terminal where ocean liners once berthed on a weekly basis.

Quay has again been named amongst the World's Top 5o Best Restaurants in the San Pellegrino restaurant awards. It clocked in at no 26, up one place from last year at the awards which were announced in April at the Guildhall in London.

If they dined on Wagyu beef in Biblical times like that enjoyed last night, they certainly ate well.

Three other locals came in the top 100-Tetsuyas and Marque in Sydney , and Attica  in Melbourne. The Copenhagen restaurant Norma was voted No One for the second year running (a favourite of Prince Frederick and Princess Mary of Denmark) and a Stockholm establishment- Lilla Nygatan was named as the 'one to watch'.
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Altona

For a lazy $60 million the harbour-side mansion Altona in Point Piper can be yours according to adverts that have appeared in a local Eastern Suburb's newspaper.

Publishers  Deke and Eve Miskin have just put the house on the market. They bought it from Fiona Handbury, the ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch's nephew Matt Handbury for $28m in 2002.
Fiona, who has re-married to William Legge, the grandson of the romance novelist Barbara Cartland, is now the Countess of Dartmouth and received the mansion in a divorce settlement.

The Miskins are moving to the northern playground of Byron Bay and for the past 3 years have let the house out to celebrities like  Hugh Jackman. One actor who has inspected the property with a view to buy-Russell Crowe .

the Quay comes tops

The Quay and chef Peter Gilmour

Just days after Shuttlers enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres at the opening of the Victor Churchill Butcher Shop , the caterer and chef Peter Gilmour proudly accepted an award for The Quay as Australia's restaurant of the year presented by those who know -Australian Gourmet Traveller. The Quay faced stiff competition especially from Tetsuya-already rated in the world's 10 top eateries and a favourite of David Bowie who thinks nothing of flying into Sydney whenever in the Southern Hemisphere just to dine there.

Peter's contemporaries who joined in the celebrations at Qantas caterer Neil Perry's
Rockpool included Matt Moran & Luke Mangan
( Princess Mary of Denmark's favourite chef)