The Country's Best Restaurants Have Been Named for 2018

Auckland's Cocoro has earned the coveted title of Restaurant of the Year at this year's Cuisine New Zealand Good Food Awards. Located down a quiet side street in Ponsonby, the restaurant — which literally translates to 'heart and soul' — puts a fresh, modern twist on traditional Japanese cuisine across multi-course degustation, sushi and sashimi and tapas menus.

The Cuisine New Zealand Good Food Awards identify and celebrate the very best dining experiences the country has to offer. This year saw some changes with two new awards introduced, including The Long Term Player award aimed at rewarding stalwarts of the hospitality industry, and Best New Zealand Dish which seeks to honour the growing trend for dishes that are distinctly local in style and flavour.

Other big winners included contemporary Indian restaurant Cassia which came away with Best Metropolitan Restaurant, Al Brown's Depot which picked up Best Casual Dining Restaurant, Wellington's Charley Noble which won Best Drinks List, Tony Stewart of Clooney who scooped Restaurant Personality of the Year and K' Road's Gemmayze St which took home Best Specialist Restaurant for its Lebanese offering. The sought-after Chef of the Year award this year went south to Guilio Sturla, the chef behind acclaimed Roots restaurant in Canterbury.

The winners, and those awarded one, two or three 'hats', were drawn from ​Cuisine​'s list of New Zealand's top 100 restaurants. See the full list of winners below.

CUISINE NEW ZEALAND GOOD FOOD AWARDS 2018

Restaurant of the Year: Cocoro (Auckland)
Chef of the Year: Giulio Sturla, Roots (Canterbury)
Best Metropolitan Restaurant: Cassia (Auckland) with special mention for Ortega (Wellington)
Best Regional Restaurant: Palate (Hamilton)
Best Specialist Restaurant: Gemmayze St (Auckland)
Best Casual Dining Restaurant: Depot (Auckland)
Restaurant Personality: Tony Stewart, Clooney (Auckland)
Innovation Award: Vaughan Mabee, Amisfield Bistro (Central Otago) with Special Mention for Alex Davies
Best Winery Restaurant: Elephant Hill (Hawkes Bay)
New Zealand Best Wine Experience: Noble Rot (Wellington)
Best Drinks List: Charley Noble (Wellington)
New Zealand Future Food Legend: Monique Fiso - Hiakai (Wellington)
New Zealand Long-Term Player: Logan Brown (Wellington)
Best NZ Dish - Paua Pie - Vaughan Mabee: Amisfield Bistro (Central Otago)

More information can be found at cuisine.co.nz.