Some rose, some fell and plenty were rewarded for throwing their hat into the ring in a tough year for restaurants.
In the snakes and ladders world of Sydney dining, 27 restaurants gained at least one chef's hat at The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide awards last night while 12 restaurants were shucked of their prestigious toques.
The great Italian diner Buon Ricordo leapfrogged the city's other great trattoria, Lucio's, the latter losing one of its two long-held hats and the former gaining one back to became a two-hatter.
However, it was a night to celebrate a slew of newcomers, who braved proclamations of the death of fine dining and the closure of at least a dozen top Sydney eateries to open restaurants.
A flurry of openings resulted in the highest number of metropolitan new entries in the history of the guide, among them Bar H by the former Kylie Kwong protege Hamish Ingham, Matt Moran's Chiswick and Star casino newcomers Balla, Black by Ezard and Momofuku Seiobo.
And despite the Restaurant of the Year award going to Peter Gilmore's Quay, it was a memorable year for Momofuku Seiobo, which completed the most astronomical rise ever seen by Good Food Guide editors Terry Durack and Joanna Savill.
The first Momofuku outside New York for the Korean-American chef David Chang, recently named one of Time magazine's 100 people who most affect our world, shot straight into the exclusive three-hat club after it opened in the Star last year.
The tiny 30-seater, headed by chef Ben Greeno, joins five other three-hatters: est., Marque, Quay, Rockpool on George and Sepia.
Despite their restaurant not joining the three-hat club, tattooed, rockabilly chefs Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz, of Porteno, were named chefs of the year for being "great innovators that are steering the course with their own style and incredible talent", Savill said.
In previous years, the annual awards night has been the scene of tears, barbs and high-profile demotions - among them the shock move for Tetsuya's from three to two hats in 2010, where it remains this year - but there was "not a lot of blood on the floor this year," Savill said. "It's a celebration this time."
WHO'S WHO OF HATS
Three hats
Est, Marque Restaurant, Momofuku Seiobo,
Quay,
Rockpool on George, Sepia
Two hats
Aria, Bentley Restaurant & Bar, The Bridge Room,
Buon Ricordo, Claude's, Four In Hand Dining Room, Gastro Park,
Guillaume at Bennelong,
Icebergs Dining Room and Bar,
Longrain, Ormeggio at the Spit, Pilu at Freshwater,
Porteno,
Rockpool Bar & Grill,
Spice Temple, Tetsuya's, Universal
One hat
A Tavola,
Aki's, The Apollo, Arras, Assiette, Balla, Bar H, The Bathers' Pavilion, Billy Kwong, Bistro Moncur, Bistrode CBD,
Black by Ezard, The Boathouse at Blackwattle Bay, Buzo Trattoria,
Cafe Sopra, Catalina,
China Doll, Chiswick, Clareville Kiosk, The Devonshire, Fish Face, Flying Fish, 4Fourteen, Foveaux, Glass Brasserie, Jonah's, Lucio's,
Ms.G's, The Ortolan on Bayswater, Oscillate Wildly,
Otto Ristorante, Pendolino, Sake Restaurant & Bar, Sean's Panaroma, Sixpenny, Three Blue Ducks, Tomislav,
Uccello, Ume,
Xanthi
