The event was attended by 800 of the restaurant industry’s biggest names and catered by chefs Neil Perry and Guillaume Brahimi. 

Italian influences reigned supreme on the night, with Adelaide’s Restaurant Orana being crowned Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year.

While the restaurant is a celebration of Australian cuisine, featuring ingredients such as finger lime, eucalyptus and green ants on its menu, it’s run by owner-chef Jock Zonfrillo, who won the Food for Good Award last year.

Born in Glasgow, the innovative chef was raised by a Scottish mother and an Italian father, who migrated from the coastal village of Scauri, in the region of Lazio, with his family as a young boy.

In an interview with Il Globo last year, Zonfrillo said his Italian heritage has played an integral role in where he is today.

“The Italian food and passion for life is very different from the Scottish one,” he said.

“I preferred the outgoing, loud family atmosphere that was on the Italian side.”

Another hero on the night was Stefano de Pieri, from Stefano’s Cantina in Mildura, who won the Vittoria Coffee Legend Award.

Born in Treviso and having migrated to Australia in 1974, de Pieri was serving up local seasonal produce before it became trendy.

With no formal training as a chef, de Pieri has gained celebrity status within the hospitality industry over the years, following the establishment of his restaurant in 1991, and the later additions of a cafe-bakery, brewery and wine label.

Meanwhile, Wine List of the Year went to Otto, a Brisbane restaurant serving up modern Italian cuisine and celebrating Italian drops, from Moscato d’Asti to Nerello Mascalese from the slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna.

On the night, former Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, Jess Miller, received the Food for Good Award for establishing the Sydney Doesn’t Suck campaign to rid the city of single-use drinking straws.

The initiative aims to put 2.3 million plastic straws out of business with the help of local venues such as the Sydney Opera House and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Here’s a full list of the 2019 Good Food Awards:

Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year

Restaurant Orana

Adelaide, South Australia

New Restaurant of the Year

Laura

Point Leo Estate, Merricks, Victoria

Santa Vittoria Regional Restaurant of the Year

Brae

Birregurra, Victoria

Citi Chef of the Year

Peter Gilmore

Quay, Sydney, New South Wales

Vittoria Coffee Legend Award

Stefano de Pieri

Stefano's Cantina, Mildura, Victoria

Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year

Jodie Odrowaz

Iki Jime, Melbourne, Victoria

Citi Service Excellence

Kylie Javier Ashton

Momofuku Seiobo, Sydney, New South Wales

Food for Good

Sydney Doesn’t Suck

New South Wales

Bar of the Year

The Dolphin Wine Room

Sydney, New South Wales

Sommelier of the Year

Travis Howe

Carlton Wine Room, Melbourne, Victoria

Wine List of the Year

Otto

Brisbane, Queensland

Regional Wine List of the Year

Wickens at the Royal Mail

Dunkeld, Victoria