Australians are pretty lucky to have many of the world’s greatest restaurants right on our doorstep. With new venues swinging open their doors each month, we’re almost too spoilt for choice. We’ve always known our restaurant scene is world-class, and so do the reviewers at Condé Nast Traveller. Last week, the award-winning travel publication dropped its 2025 Hot List of the best new restaurants that have opened (or reopened) in the past 12 months – and two of our very own Aussie venues made the cut.
The first is Saint Peter at the Grand National, a revolutionary ‘nose-to-tail’ seafood restaurant by Australia’s most celebrated chef, Josh Niland, and his wife, Julie. Unsurprisingly, this restaurant also features on our list of the best restaurants in Australia – and you can check out the full round-up here.
In mid-2024, Saint Peter found a beautiful new home in Paddington’s Grand National Hotel, which also features a walk-in bar and a 14-room luxury boutique hotel. The restaurant was previously located in a much smaller venue, just down the road on Oxford Street. While the second act of Saint Peter has found a new address, the game-changing dishes very much remain – think coral trout bone noodles, John dory liver pâté tarts, 12-day dry-aged yellowfin tuna, and even a sweet fudge made from the tuna’s bone marrow.
The Nilands are proving unstoppable too, having just opened another brand-new restaurant, Catseye Pool Club, this week. Located at The Sundays – a sparkling new $30 million hotel on Hamilton Island – the venue stays true to Saint Peter’s nose-to-tail ethos, while expanding the menu to feature premium land-based proteins and fresh produce from the Queensland coast.
The second Australian venue included in Condé Nast’s list of the hottest new restaurant openings from the past year is Supernormal Brisbane – an Asian-influenced riverside eatery by hospo legend Andrew McConnell (the mastermind behind Gimlet, Apollo Inn, Marion, Builders Arms Hotel). While it shares its name with McConnell’s beloved Melbourne original, which opened a decade ago, Supernormal Brisbane has been given a tropical makeover to match its breezy riverside setting.
Melbourne favourites, like the famous New England lobster rolls, have made their way onto the menu, but there’s also plenty of new dishes to try, including roast Yamba prawns with a tangy shio koji sauce and a slow-cooked Szechuan lamb shoulder served with spiced chickpea and coriander. Hungry? You can check out Condé Nast’s pick of the 33 best new restaurant openings below.
Here are the best new restaurants in the world:
- 19 Saint Roch, Paris
- Acamaya, New Orleans
- AngloThai, London
- Arami, La Paz, Bolivia
- Clandestina, São Paulo
- Clara, Quito, Ecuador
- Banng, Delhi NCR
- Bar Vitrine, Copenhagen
- Bungalow, New York City
- Caleña, Ávila, Spain
- Ciel Dining, Ho Chi Minh City
- Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi, Washington DC
- Esperit Roca, Girona, Spain
- Il Carciofo, Chicago
- Jan Franschoek, Franschoek, South Africa
- Jee, Hong Kong
- Kaia, Boston
- La Tapa del Coco, Panama City
- Le Veau d’Or, New York City
- Mr Panther, Lagos, Nigeria
- Notori, Mount Fuji, Japan
- OpenHouse, Kuala Lumpur
- Osip, Bruton, UK
- Rua Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda
- Saint Peter at the Grand National, Sydney
- Somma, Singapore
- Stüvetta, St Moritz, Switzerland
- Sufret Maryam, Dubai
- Supernormal, Brisbane
- Terrāi, Hyderabad
- Vinai, Minneapolis
- Voraz, Mexico City
- Sunny’s, Miami