While its top chef and restaurant awards and its coveted chef’s hat allocations will be announced on August 7, Cuisine has released a list of 250 restaurants to be included in its guide, which this year also includes casual eateries and destination venues.
These have all been assessed by the guide’s 40-strong judging panel, made up of food writers, critics, chefs and hospitality-industry professionals, led by food writer and industry expert Kerry Tyack.
In Dunedin that includes retro favourite Best Cafe, Adjo, Dosa Etc and Woof, while Queenstown’s The Cow gets a nod, as does Wānaka’s Paloma Taqueria.
Te Anau restaurant The Fat Duck makes the list for the first time, as do newly renovated The Bathhouse in Queenstown and Mutton Bird and Arc in Wānaka. Jervois Steakhouse in Queenstown also makes the list.
Regulars in the Cuisine top restaurant awards have made the cut again, such as Dunedin’s Bracken, Moiety (one hat), No7 Balmac, Titi (one hat) and Prohibition Smokehouse. In Queenstown, Amisfield (last year’s restaurant of the year and awarded three hats), Rata, Botswana Butchery (one hat) and Sherwood (two hats) are on the list as are Arrowtown’s Aosta (one hat), Wānaka’s Bistro Gentil and Kika (one hat) and in Oamaru, Riverstone and Cucina (one hat).
