How was your most recent restaurant experience? Was the apple and water crest salad crisp and crunchy, dressed by a tangy sauce with a bit of a bite? Did the broccoli and cheese croquets crack when you split them apart and let the melted gooey insides seep out? If you were dining at one of the 2016 Timeout Melbourne Food Awards Restaurant Nominees then you probably experienced all this and more.
>>UPDATE: Winners Announced Below
Highlighting the best of the best and celebrating all kinds of culinary excellence, the awards which are now in their fourth consecutive year welcome two brand new categories both of which are very fitting in regards to this years food trends, Best Food Truck and Best Drinks Service. These awards will sit alongside the golden oldies such as Chef Of The Year, Best Fine Dining Restaurant, and Best Cheap Eats. Time Out visits all their nominated restaurants as anonymous diners to be sure that truly are the crème de la crème of Melbourne dining!
This year features all kinds of talent both new and old such as Attica who won the coveted Restaurant of the Year Award in 2013, who are back ready to reclaim their title. Meanwhile the peer-nominated Hot Talent Award nominees includes a young gun chef that Time Out has described as our culinary star of the future. Exciting!
It’s all going down Monday September 19th from 6:30-10:30pm. Tickets are $55 including food, drinks and entertainment. Join us at The Cut Steakhouse, where we hope they’ll be serving their Beef Tartare. Yum! All food enthusiasts are welcome but don’t wait around, tickets are known to sell out quickly! We couldn’t be more excited!
Alas, the nominees are in!
Drum roll please…
Restaurant of the Year
Attica
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Embla – WINNER WINNER
Estelle by Scott Pickett French Saloon
Igni
Lee Ho Fook
Marion Wine Bar
Oakridge
Oter
Chef of the Year
Ian Curley, French Saloon
Florent Gerardin, Oter
Andrew McConnell, Marion Wine Bar
Aaron Turner, Igni – WINNER WINNER
Dave Verheul, Embla
Best Fine Dining Restaurant
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Ides
Igni – WINNER WINNER
The Lakeside Mill
Matteo’s
Best Casual Dining Restaurant
Bar Liberty
Embla – WINNER WINNER
Host
Marion Wine Bar
Tulum
Best Cheap Eats
Biggie Smalls
Dexter
Hawker Hall
Mukka – WINNER WINNER
POW Kitchen
Hot Talent Award
Sushil Aryal
Cutler & Co
Oakridge Jo Barrett – WINNER WINNER
Pei Modern Stephen Clark
San Telmo Zack Furst
Ides
Drinks Service Award
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Ides
Lûmé – WINNER WINNER
Pretty Mama
The Roving Marrow
Best Café
Bawa
Higher Ground
Left Field
Mammoth
Second Home – WINNER WINNER
Best Food Truck
Billy Van
Creamy
Ghost Kitchen – WINNER WINNER
Mr Burger
Smokin’ Barry’s
Taco Truck
Legend Awards
Ben Shewry, Attica – WINNER WINNER
Peoples choice is were things really start to spice up. This year you can have your say on who takes home gold in four different categories, Best Takeaway Coffee; Best Takeaway Lunch Spot; and Best Late Night Snack Vendor.
These are the OTL picks we’ve got our money on:
Restaurant
Smith and Daughters – WINNER WINNER
On Nom
Sake
Arbory
Lunch
Jimmy Grants – WINNER WINNER
Tuckshop
Fonda
Coffee
St Ali – WINNER WINNER
Market Lane
Top Paddock
Late Night Snack Vendor
Lord of the Fries – WINNER WINNER
Don’t hold off until the awards to get some good grub. Use this list as your very own curated guide to eating out this weekend.
Written by Alice Johnson:
Alice is studying Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT.
You will find her at a gig, sipping on a beer with friends, listening to The Doors, or munching on a caramel slice.
Catch her at alicethecamel
