From a starship-like mountaintop bistro to seaside Italian, it’s been a strong year for openings. That’s why we’ve included an additional 10 to put on your radar.
It seems every time we announce the New Restaurant of the Year finalists for The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, there’s an opening line about it being “a big year for openings”. We meant it all those other times, but we really mean it now. From Red Hill to Manly, there haven’t been so many cracking new restaurants open over the past 12 months since NSW and the ACT were gearing up for the Olympics.
Perhaps it’s because all those long-COVID-delayed plans have come to fruition. Perhaps it’s because restaurateurs and investors are feeling renewed confidence in the hospitality sector after a nationwide slowdown in inflation. Whatever the reason, after several editorial meetings spent mulling the Good Food Guide awards, we’ve extended this year’s New Restaurant of the Year Finalist list from five venues to 10.
We also need to give credit to Olympus Dining in Redfern and Homer’s Cronulla for helping lead a new wave of Greek dining (see Olympics Meats, too). Lottie and Oltol are moving Mexican food forward in Redfern and Newtown respectively, and it’s been a bumper year for pasta across the board. Cicci in Balmain, Vineria Louisa on Enmore Road and McCarrs, Terrey Hills, are doing delicious things inspired by Italy, as is Neptune’s Grotto, which opened in the CBD at the end of 2024.
The Thai-Chinese cooking at Ama stood out, Mark Best put a fresh spin on Sydney Tower, and A.P Bakery started serving wine with its bread in Darlinghurst. Meanwhile, Harris Park’s Little India and Haymarket’s Thaitown are growing vigorously.
But here are the restaurants that really stood out as the most exciting openings of the past 12 months. The winner of New Restaurant of the Year, presented by Aurum Poultry Co., will be announced at the Good Food Guide Awards on October 13.
Bessie’s, Surry Hills
Snacks are the funnest part of both Bessie’s and Alma’s, a two-for-one restaurant-bar in the old Chef’s Warehouse site from the team behind Bar Copains. Bessie’s is all about natural wines and fire-kissed share plates. Snack on blistered wild greens pie or go large with a charred pork belly chop.
111-115 Albion Street, Surry Hills, NSW, bessiesrestaurant.com
Cibaria, Manly
The latest Italian venture from creative director Alessandro Pavoni and the Ormeggio at The Spit crew is quite an undertaking. There’s a standalone bar doing steady trade in negronis and lobster rolls, a cafe-gelateria and, of course, the restaurant, where you’ll find sharp service and a generous menu of saucy carbs and pastas and scorched treats.
55 N Steyne, Manly, cibariamanly.au
Clarence and V, Sydney
Clarence and V isn’t reaching for the stars, yet in doing so, it lands among them. Vito Mollica handles icy negronis and lo-fi wines with the relaxed charm of a hospitality veteran, while young-gun Stella Roditis plates dishes made for eating, such as green beans and tomatoes luxuriating in anchovy dressing.
2/191 Clarence Street, Sydney, instagram.com/clarenceandv
Eleven Barrack, Sydney
It’s your average deluxe surf-and-turf with marble columns, white tablecloths, and low-lit oak bar – until you notice the tartan carpet and collection of auction-won knick-knacks, including a parachute. Brent Savage’s menu also has personality, from crumpets crowned with bluefin tuna and horseradish cream, to Key lime pies with ginger jelly.
11 Barrack Street, Sydney, NSW, bentleyrestaurantgroup.com.au
Garaku, Sydney
With a kitchen led by Derek Kim, who spent almost a decade at Tetsuya’s, you’d expect precise plating and refined flavours at Garaku. But the reality of eating Kim’s food reveals something more: fiercely seasonal cooking that’s artful and intensely thoughtful, but also full of lightness and whimsy. Refreshing stuff.
Prefecture 48, Level 1/230 Sussex Street, Sydney, NSW, p48.com.au
Grandfathers, Sydney
The next act from the Pellegrino 2000 crew is an instant, immersive hit. The moody dining room is carpeted in black and red, illuminated by tropical aquariums, and the menu is similarly striking: you can’t deny the tongue-tingling appeal of poached strange-flavour chicken, or the thrill of Ningxia amber wine.
Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, grandfathers.com
Lunetta, Red Hill
A fine-dining reimagining of a starship-like mountaintop restaurant, with faceted bay windows overlooking Canberra, Lunetta glows with nostalgic warmth. But chef Tristan Rebbettes’s menu feels “now”, adding fresh perspective to familiar dishes such as tuna crudo under a mosaic of blow-torched orange, figs and marigold.
60 Red Hill Drive, Red Hill, ACT, lunetta.au
Mister Grotto, Newtown
Fishing rods. Hand-reels. Antique lures. There’s a bit going on here, butwe expected nothing less from the Continental Deli team. Mans Engberg sends out flavour-packed dishes such as pipis in a froth of vermouth and samphire with cornbread; Lauren Eldridge is on desserts, remixing After Eight mints into a lobster-shaped mould starring white chocolate and salted caramel.
208 Australia Street, Newtown, NSW, paisanoanddaughters.com.au
Olympic Meats, Marrickville
The grill is a thing of beauty: a triple-stacked barbecue running at capacity, pillars of chicken and pork rotating over coals, chillies drying slowly in the rafters. It’s helmed by Timothy Cassimatis, who’s poured his life into mastering this menu, which features sourdough pita, tallow-fried chips and plenty of hot, salty meats.
12 Dudley Street, Marrickville, olympicmeats.shop
The Grill at The International, Sydney
The Grill stands apart as a grand symbol of the CBD’s next phase with a sense of excitement and opulence. Culinary director Joel Bickford hits familiar tropes but keep things novel: surf and turf equals yabbies, sweetbreads and pickled gooseberries; tartare combines two cuts of beef with oyster cream and shiso.
25 Martin Place, Sydney, internationalsydney.com
The winners of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2026 Awards will be announced on Monday, October 13, presented by Oceania Cruises and T2 Tea. The awards ceremony will be live-blogged via the SMH from 3pm, and the 2026 edition of the Guide will be available on the Good Food app from 8pm. A free 80-page Good Food Guide liftout will be inserted in the Herald on Tuesday, October 14.
The home of the Good Food Guide, the app is free for premium subscribers of the SMH and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.
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