Time Out Food & Drink Awards 2023: Best Fine Dining Restaurant Nominees

The capacious Crown Street site formerly known as Toko is now the home of Andrew Becher’s latest grand venture, Armorica. No stranger to dropping a casual few mill on a resplendent refit, this grandiose renewal is as tastefully opulent as one has come to expect from the self-confessed Francophile behind Potts Point’s fine-dining duo Franca and Parlar. Once liberated from your coat, deftly hung in the foyer’s bespoke, European oak closet by your impossibly elegant host, you’ll be whisked through the magnificent dining room to your seats. Italian marble, tufted cherry leather, naval brass railings and gilded lamps atop each table – it’s entirely evident that not a single expense has been spared.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to truly sit in the lap of luxury? You’ll know after a three-hour lunch at Brasserie 1930, the elegant hotel restaurant on the ground floor of the new Capella Hotel on Bridge Street. They’ve taken a fully immersive approach here, gathering everything decorative, shiny and delightful and scattering it artfully across the former Department of Education building. There are towering verdant green walls in the atrium; lampshades that open and close gently overhead like jellyfish in a tropical aquarium; and textural art – ceramics, wire sculpture, textile art – around every corner.

Disclaimer: Good-times-only Italian diner Pellegrino 2000 is one of our favourite restaurants in Sydney. Chefs and owners Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift, alongside sommelier Andy Tyson, know how to create a rocking venue with on-point flavours and a feel-good vibe (the fact that it’s impossible to get a booking unless it's a Tuesday at 5pm is testament to that). So, when news broke earlier this year that the trio was opening a third Sydney restaurant (a New York-style steak house slinging retro classics) joining Pellegrino 2000 and their French baby, Bistrot 916 – we were thrilled, hopeful, and perhaps a little biased. Thankfully, it’s turned out to be a clam dunk.

To quote a song from the OG Kylie, it was love at first sight with Le Foote. And thank god, because expectations were at an all-time high for this part-Parisian wine bar, part-Mediterranean grill. Word on the street is that it's Sydney’s hottest opening this year. After all, Le Foote is a Swillhouse venue – they're the team behind some of Sydney’s most on-point venues, including red-hued old-world bistro Hubert, and good-times-only Italian joint Alberto's Lounge. It’s been a heck of a long time coming, with more than two years of planning and setbacks. Which makes sense, when you consider that Le Foote has taken over the historic Phillip’s Foote restaurant in the Rocks. All that sandstone, while gorgeous, ain’t forgiving. At last, the red curtains opened. And what a show.

Renowned around the world for being a pioneer of the fin-to-tail seafood movement, Niland has long been championing the use of the whole fish. Not only for economical reasons, but for sustainable ones, too. Why use one fillet of fish when you can enjoy the whole thing? The meat world has known this for much longer, but thankfully the ocean world is starting to catch up, and it’s largely thanks to Niland. Whether it’s Saint Peter’s fish-eye ice cream (trust us, it works), the legendary yellowfin tuna cheeseburger at Charcoal Fish that rivals Macca's creations, and now Petermen’s exceptional scotch egg, Niland has revolutionised the way we think about – and eat – seafood, allowing us to fall deeper in love with creatures of the sea. And there is nothing fishy about that.

It’s been a while between shots, and we don’t know if we’ve ever had one right before a meal, but that’s exactly what happens not long after we take a seat at the Sanderson, the new CBD restaurant by the Speakeasy Group (also Nick and Nora’s and Mjølner). On the table we see two miniature silver rams with curled horns. Our waiter flips them around, and pours us a nip of something neon-green. We’re told it’s made in-house, from sherry, green apple, cucumber, and white balsamic. Sounds a lot better than the Midori of our youth, so down it goes. Like a bright, zippy treat, actually. A sign of the fun to come.