Sydney's Josh and Julie Niland Just Scored the Game Changer Award From France's Prestigious La Liste
The French-based guide recognised the duo for changing "the way chefs use fish all over the world with [their] zero-waste 'fish butchery' approach".
Acclaim, awards, and Josh and Julie Niland all go hand in hand. The Sydney duo have been winning fans locally since 2016, when they opened Saint Peter, and the praise has kept flowing and growing from there. Josh's applauded The Whole Fish Cookbook earned him the prestigious James Beard Book of the Year Award back in 2020, becoming the first Australian to ever take out the prize. Earlier in 2022, he was the only Australian chef to feature in The Best Chefs Awards for 2022 — aka the list of the top 100 best globally — too. Now, with Julie, another gong has come the Nilands' way: the Game Changer Award from France's La Liste.
La Liste is known for picking the best 1000 restaurants in the world annually, and it has also just done exactly that for 2023. But it gives out awards as well, with its latest round handed out on the evening of Monday, November 28 in Paris. That's where Josh and Julie earned some love for their approach to seafood, and the businesses that've sprang from their efforts.
by Rob Palmer, from Josh Niland's The Whole Fish Cookbook
"Australian chef Josh Niland, whose wife Julie runs his ever evolving Sydney business, has changed the way chefs use fish all over the world with his zero-waste 'fish butchery' approach," La Liste notes in its explanation for its 2023 Game Changer pick.
"His methods seemed radical when he started talking about them, but make sense — use the whole fish, from fin-to-gill, as we do nose-to-tail with animals. Age and cure fish. Don't forget the offal. As many chefs lack the knowledge to do this, he shares his ideas in two cookbooks, The Whole Fish and Take One Fish," the statement continues.
Rob Palmer
Clearly, Sydneysiders will be familiar with the Nilands courtesy of Saint Peter, and also thanks to Fish Butchery since 2018 — with the latter now in both Paddington and Waterloo — plus sustainable fish and chip shop Charcoal Fish in Rose Bay. They have more venues in the works, with Saint Peter moving into The Grand National Hotel, the Nilands taking over the whole place, and new 60-seat restaurant and bar Petermen coming to St Leonards, all in 2023.
The Nilands' La Liste prize saw them earn international recognition alongside fellow Aussie chefs James Henry and Shaun Kelly, who scored one of the Hidden Gems awards for Le Doyenné in Saint-Vrain in France.
Also picking up a win among the global recipients: Michel Guérard, who nabbed a special Award of Honour; Chika Tillman from New York's ChikaLicious Dessert Bar, who received the Top Pastry Chef Award; and Yotam Ottolenghi for championing the Mediterranean region, which scored him the New Destination Champion Award. Plus, Italy's Niko Romito was given the Innovation Award, France's Yannick Alléno the Community Spirit prize, and Brazil's Manoella Buffara took home the Ethical and Sustainability Award.
Among La Liste 2023's 1000 restaurants, Saint Peter obviously featured, as did a nice lineup of other Australian spots. In Sydney, Oncore by Clare Smyth, Quay, Tetsuya's, Bentley Restaurant and Bar, Bennelong, Ormeggio at The Spit, and Rockpool Bar and Grill made the list, while Melbourne's inclusions span Vue de Monde, Attica, Cutler and Co, Minamishina, Lume, Grossi Florentino Upstairs and Flower Drum.
In regional Victoria, Brae, Lake House and Provenance got the nod, as did Penfolds Magill Estate in Adelaide.
Brae
For La Liste's full list of awards, and best restaurants, head to the guide's website.
Top image: Rob Palmer.
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