The only nationwide restaurant awards programme of its kind, the New Zealand Cuisine Good Food Awards identify and celebrate the very best dining experiences the country has to offer each year.

The restaurants that made it into Cuisine’s top 100 for 2018 will be celebrating the coveted accolade of being included in the annual Cuisine Good Food Guide.

At the October 2018 awards night, Auckland restaurant Cocoro took the top accolade as Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year, with chef and co-owner Makoto Tokuyama being fêted for his sophisticated and inspiring Japanese food. Famed for using only the freshest sustainable seafood, the restaurant also earned three coveted hats.

“This team gets our highest honour in 2018,” said Kerry Tyack, lead assessor of the Cuisine Good Food Awards 2018. “With it comes our respect and our appreciation for a job being done quietly yet superbly.”

Santa Vittoria Chef of the Year Giulio Sturla was lauded for his skill balancing intense flavours that truly respect premium ingredients. “Giulio has so many layers to his work. Through his authentic and clever food,  through his mentoring and continuous support of his team, through the telling of the New Zealand food story within his organisation Eat New Zealand and through his never-ending push to learn and to teach and to be excellent. We are so proud to be able to shine a well-deserved light on Giulio Sturla this year.”

With competition for the top awards being so intense, it’s remarkable that one chef should take out two of the major gongs. The ingenuity and sheer imagination of Vaughan Mabee of Amisfield Bistro was recognised for the second year running with the Ōra King Salmon Innovation Award, and his dish, The Paua Pie, won the Whitestone Cheese Best NZ Dish.

Also demonstrating a wide-ranging talent, two of Auckland chef’s Sid Sahrawat’s stable of restaurants were awarded two hats this year, with Cassia winning the Best Metropolitan Restaurant.

Not only applauding the newest, hottest spots, Wellington’s abiding favourite fine-diner Logan Brown was applauded, winning the Pead PR New Zealand Long-Term Player award for their commitment to consistently serving up elegance and pure class.

At the other end of the longevity spectrum the spotlight turned on up-and-coming chef Monique Fiso, about to launch her restaurant Hiakai, which celebrates Māori cuisine and indigenous ingredients.

“Transcending trends while remaining the hallmark of success are the twin features of quality and consistency. Our hat and category winners this year deliver both. They have shown a sure-footedness, a confidence that survives and grows without need of gimmicks or extreme positioning,” Kerry Tyack said.

The theme of ‘Pure and Premium New Zealand’ carried throughout the night, from the food by Lizzie Pearson of Urban Gourmet to the sheer array of Kiwi talent that gathered to hear the likes of Auckland’s Cassia, Gemmayze St and Depot and Hamilton’s Palate restaurants take out well-deserved awards. Also gathering major accolades were Elephant Hill in Hawke’s Bay and Wellington’s Noble Rot and Charley Noble.

Wellington restaurants took three of the top honours and five went to Auckland, with the rest going to teams in Hamilton, Hawke’s Bay, Canterbury and Central Otago.

More information can be found at: cuisine.co.nz/good-food-awards

THE TOP 100 FOR 2018

AUCKLAND

1. Amano
2. Antoines
3. Apero
4. Azabu
5. Baduzzi
6. Bracu
7. Cassia
8. Cazador
9. Cibo
10. Clooney
11. Coco’s Cantina
12. Cocoro
13. Cotto
14. Culprit
15. Depot
16. Euro
17. Federal Delicatessen
18. Gemmayze St
19. Gusto at the Grand
20. Harbourside
21. Hugo’s Bistro
22. Kazuya
23. Lillius
24. Masu by Nic Watt
25. O’Connell St Bistro
26. Orphans Kitchen
27. Ortolana
28. Pasta & Cuore
29. Pasture
30. Ponsonby Road Bistro
31. Prego
32. Satya Chai Lounge
33. Sid at The French Cafe
34. Sidart
35. Soul Bar & Bistrot
36. The Engine Room
37. The Grill by Sean Connolly
38. The Grove
39. The Hunting Lodge
40. The Sugar Club
41. White + Wong’s – Auckland

WAIHEKE ISLAND

42. The Shed at Te Motu

HAMILTON

43. Chim Choo Ree
44. Hayes Common
45. Palate

TAUPO

46. The Bistro

HAWKE’S BAY

47. Bistronomy
48. Black Barn Bistro
49. Elephant Hill
50. Pacifica
51. Te Awa Winery Restaurant
52. Craggy Range Restaurant

MARTINBOROUGH

53. Pinocchio
54. Union Square

NEW PLYMOUTH

55. Social Kitchen

MANAWATU

56. Amayjen

WELLINGTON

57. Boulcott St Bistro
58. Capitol
59. Chameleon
60. Charley Noble
61. Egmont St Eatery
62. Field and Green
63. Havana Bar
64. Hillside
65. Hippopotamus
66. Logan Brown
67. Loretta
68. Monte Cervino
69. Noble Rot
70. Oikos Hellenic Cuisine
71. Ortega
72. Pravda
73. Rita
74. Salty Pidgin
75. Shepherd
76. Tinakori Bistro
77. WBC
78. Whitebait

NELSON

79. Hopgood’s Restaurant
80. Urban Oyster Bar & Eatery

MARLBOROUGH

81. Arbour

CANTERBURY

82. Twenty Seven Steps
83. Black Estate
84. Chillingworth Road
85. Gatherings
86. Inati
87. Pegasus Bay
88. Pescatore
89. Roots

NORTH OTAGO

90. Riverstone Kitchen
91. Fleurs Place

CENTRAL OTAGO

92. Amisfield Bistro
93. Bistro Gentil
94. Botswana Butchery
95. Fishbone
96. Kika
97. Ode Conscious Dining
98. Rata
99. Sherwood

DUNEDIN

100. Bracken