The restaurant award season continues, with Peter Gilmore’s acclaimed harbourside eatery Quay claiming the Sydney Restaurant of the Year title at the 25th annual Good Food Guide Awards last night.

The award win puts Quay on track for an unprecedented clean sweep of Australia’s major restaurant awards for the second year in a row. Last year, they claimed the Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant of the Year prize, Good Food Guide Sydney Restaurant of the Year and Restaurant and Catering Association’s national award. They have claimed the first two again this year, with the Restaurant and Catering Sydney award to be announced later this month – closely followed by the national announcement in October.

It was Quay’s fourth win in the past seven years.

”That’s a remarkable achievement,” noted co-author of the Good Food Guide Simon Thomsen in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Six restaurants received the coveted three-hat recognition, namely Bilson’s, est, Marque, Pier, Quay and Tetsuya’s. Surprisingly, Chui Lee Luk’s iconic Claude’s restaurant was left off this list – falling back to two hats.

“Claude’s was a heartbreaking decision, because Chui is such a naturally gifted chef,” Thomsen advised. “It’s just that the depth of her ideas is not translating clearly on to the plate.”

Other major winners were Mark Best of Marque, who claimed the title of Chef of the Year, while Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar & Grill took out the Best New Restaurant category while claiming two hats. Darley’s, located in the Blue Mountains town of Katoomba, received recognition as the Best Regional Restaurant.

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