SMH Good Food Guide Awards Hats for 2014

Achieving the culinary competence and consistency necessary to earning a Good Food hat can take half a lifetime. So one of the surprises of this year's awards was the handful of restaurants that, despite having opened their doors relatively recently, scored themselves some headwear. Gowings Bar & Grill, Mr Wong, Kepos Street Kitchen, MoVida and Monopole all made it onto the list, with the Good Food Guide editor, Joanna Savill, praising their "freshness, excitement and originality".

Kylie Kwong, who'll be speaking about "Bugs and bush food" at this week's Australian Garden Show, received the Sydney Morning Herald Innovation Award for her contribution to the expansion of our culinary horizons. Not only has she been opening our palate to the edible potential of green tree ants and the like, she's also been busy injecting a social conscience into dining, via her support of organisations such as Oxfam, Climate Friendly and the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

The new Citi Chef of the Year is the Bridge Room's Ross Lusted. Savill described him as "a trailblazer", "almost obsessive in his expertise", who has "created a new landmark on the dining landscape". Meanwhile, Guillaume Brahimi, set to part ways with the Sydney Opera House in a few months' time, received a third hat for his work at Guillaume at Bennelong, and took home the prestigious Vittoria Coffee Legend Award.

Unexpected losses were copped by both Mark Best of Marque and Peter Doyle of est., each of whom saw their three hat status diminished to two. Porteno suffered a similar fate, dropping from two to one, as did Matt Moran's Chiswick, emerging hatless. Moran actually skipped the event for the second time in 20 years, letting his fans know with a geo-specific tweet from Kangaroo Valley.

Sydney Morning Herald readers will be able to pick up a copy of the Good Food Guide for just $10 this weekend. After that, it'll set you back $24.99.