Pilot named ACT's best restaurant in Gourmet Traveller Awards

The Ainslie restaurant beat out a handful of Canberra favourites with Aubergine, Corella Bar and Restaurant, Raku and XO making up the top five.

Grazing, just out in Gundaroo, also made the top 20 NSW restaurants.

The judges said of Pilot: "The challenges of the past 18 months have no doubt tested Pilot, which was just over a year old when COVID first rained chaos down upon us all. But where others find themselves navigating the new landscape unsteadily, Pilot is soaring; confident, playful and polished. A move to a blind, 10-course dégustation menu has only sharpened the focus of chef Malcolm Hanslow and his team, as they prepare each Goldilocks-sized portion with precision."

The Traveller team were full of praise for Pilot: "The kitchen and floor staff work in harmony to deliver a perfectly paced experience that never feels rushed - but will have you promptly out the door in two hours flat, even with relaxed banter between courses."

It's been a heady start for Corella Bar and Restaurant too, since opening in May. It pivoted to takeaway during lockdown but still did enough to be recognised by the awards team who also placed it in the top 10 new restaurants in the country.

Its citation read: "What began as a plan to pair a tight, snackable menu with great wines, took on a life of its own when chef Nemanja Babic began testing dishes ahead of opening Corella on Canberra's buzzy Lonsdale Street in April. It didn't take long for all involved to realise Corella needed to be more than just a wine bar. Embracing both native ingredients and nostalgia, Babic's menu offers thoughtful yet approachable share plates, polished without pretension."

Gimlet in Melbourne was the winner of the best new restaurant award. Andrew McConnell, brother of our own Rebel Rebel Dining's Sean McConnell, is at the helm of Gimlet.

Recognising Ben Willis' 13 years at the head of Aubergine, Gourmet Traveller noted the menu here reflects the "kind of flashy-yet-unobtrusive flavour-mastery" he weilds.

Of Raku they said: "Sharing its name with a Japanese hand-shaped ceramics technique, the pages of Raku's lengthy menu espouse a similarly thoughtful philosophy: sit at the counter and watch the chefs dexterously manipulate sleek nigiri into existence, or effortlessly glide knives through pristine bricks of fish while, behind them, flames lick a robata grill stacked with ponzu-glazed New Zealand snapper and Mooloolaba prawns brushed with XO butter. While its position in central Canberra's largest shopping centre tempts an express weekday lunch ... Raku's extensive drinks offering, clockwork service and sunny dining room also invite a more leisurely dining experience."

XO is "a punchy pan-Asian party in sunny Scandi-esque surrounds, delivered to a soundtrack of Savage Garden, all landing on the right side of joyful versus gimmicky. The set menu shifts monthly, but expect a procession of Oz-ified dishes inspired by the co-owners' Vietnamese and Malaysian backgrounds, with a few dabs of Japanese colour."

Grazing received high prase: "With travel limited to our own backyards, escapist daydreams have turned inward; to historic country inns warmed by roaring fireplaces, to local wines and to plates filled with produce pulled from nearby patches. This elusive, agrarian fantasy is manifested in the diminutive town of Gundaroo, where chef Kurt Neumann dispenses comforting dishes constructed with neighbourhood ingredients under the historic tin roof of the 1865 Royal Hotel."

We're always proud when Canberra's restaurants get recognised nationally and we agree that these five restaurants are among the national capital's best.

The national awards were announced on October 25 in a virtual ceremony. If you're planning a little gourmet travelling of your own, here are some winners:

Wine bar of the year: Monopole, Sydney

Best new restaurant: Gimlet Melbourne

Best destination dining: Oaks Kitchen and Garden, Port Douglas

Restaurant of the year: Tedesca Osteria, Mornington Peninsula

Other winners and the full list of 80 top restaurants can be found at gourmettraveller.com.au

The latest edition of the magazine, covering the awards, is out now.

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