Cuisine Good Food Awards 2018: New Zealand's best chefs and restaurants

It's not an expensive fine dining restaurant that's picked up the coveted top spot at this year's Cuisine Good Food Awards. Nor does 2018's best dish sound much like a fanciful feat of gastronomy.

But it is a quintessentially Kiwi bite: As a paua pie from Amisfield Bistro in Otago is deemed New Zealand's best dish, a Japanese restaurant with a $40 lunch deal has taken out the coveted title of Restaurant of the Year at last night's annual awards ceremony.

Among just four restaurants this year to receive full marks under Cuisine's "hat" rating system, Cocoro in Auckland's Ponsonby has beaten out fellow triple hatters Clooney, Kazuya and Roots, in Canterbury, for the top spot.

Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year, Cocoro. Pictured, chef Makoto Tokuyama. Photos / Supplied

And as Roots' Guilio Sturla won Chef of the Year, Monique Fiso, praised for her Michelin-style Maori cuisine, was awarded the Cuisine New Zealand Future Food Legend award.

Meanwhile, Al Brown's Depot added to its long list of accolades, taking home 2018's award for Best Casual Dining Restaurant.

Al Brown remains king of New Zealand's casual dining scene. Photo / Supplied

Gemmayze St

in St Kevin's Arcade won Best Specialist Restaurant for its Lebanese cuisine.

These days, what would a New Zealand food awards line-up be without Sid Sahrawat? Not surprisingly, 2018's Best Metropolitan Restaurant is Cassia. For those in the capital, special mention was made in this category for Wellington restaurant Ortega.

Wellington staple Logan Brown, established in 1996, received the Long-Term Player award this year while the city's Charley Noble and Noble Rot, won the Best Drinks List and Best Wine Experience respectively.

Beyond the bigger centres, Hamilton's Palate impressed the judges with its regional prowess, winning the Best Regional Restaurant award.

Best Regional Restaurant, Palate in Hamilton. Pictured, Mat McLean. Photos / Supplied

Lead assessor of the awards, Kerry Tyack, acknowledged the country is experiencing a restaurant industry boom.

"This year we had a particularly challenging task in determining the winners and hatted restaurants – there have been an unprecedented number of new entrants into the industry, myriad changes of chefs, new menu directions and a host of other developments – including the rise of casual dining – all of which made the assessment task more complex than ever," says Tyack.

The awards follow the Cuisine Top 100 list, announced in September.

Here is the full list of winners and the restaurants awarded one, two and three hats.

Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year
COCORO - Auckland

Santa Vittoria Chef of the Year
Giulio Sturla - Roots - Canterbury

Best Metropolitan Restaurant
Cassia - Auckland with special mention for Ortega Wellington

SILERE Best Regional Restaurant
Palate - Hamilton

Estrella Damm Best Specialist Restaurant
Gemmayze St - Auckland

Epicure Trading Best Casual Dining Restaurant
Depot - Auckland

De'Longhi Restaurant Personality
Tony Stewart - Clooney - Auckland

Ora King Salmon Innovation Award
Vaughan Mabee - Amisfield Bistro – Central Otago with special mention for Alex Davies

Yellow Brick Road Best Winery Restaurant
Elephant Hill - Hawkes Bay

Negociants New Zealand Best Wine Experience
Noble Rot - Wellington

Best Drinks List
Charley Noble - Wellington

Cuisine New Zealand Future Food Legend
Monique Fiso

Pead PR New Zealand Long-Term Player
Logan Brown - Wellington

Whitestone Cheese Best NZ Dish
Paua Pie - Vaughan Mabee - Amisfield Bistro

Three Hats

Clooney
Cocoro
Kazuya
Roots

Two Hats

Amisfield Bistro
Apero
Bistronomy
Black Estate
Cassia
Craggy Range Restaurant
Elephant Hill
Hopgood's & Co
Logan Brown
Noble Rot
Ortega Fish Shack
Pacifica
Palate
Sidart
The Grill by Sean Connolly
The Sugar Club
Urban Oyster Bar & Eatery
Whitebait

One Hat

Amayjen
Arbour
Azabu
Baduzzi
Botswana Butchery – Queenstown
Bracu
Capitol
Cazador
Chameleon
Charley Noble
Chillingworth Road
Chim Choo Ree
Culprit
Depot
Field & Green
Gatherings
Gemmayze St
Gusto at the Grand
Loretta
Masu by Nic Watt
Monte Cervino
O'Connell St Bistro
Pasta & Cuore
Rata
Rita
Salty Pidgin
Shepherd
Te Awa Winery Restaurant
The Bistro
The Engine Room
WBC