A French jewel box in country Victoria, a late-night parlour of sweetbreads and ouzo, the man who brought Keralan drinking food to backstreet Fitzroy, an Italian wine bar per eccellenza, and two singular fine diners that changed the game, each in their own right, as only they might. These are your Victorian nominees for the 2025 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards, one of the biggest appointments on the Australian culinary calendar.
Con Christopolous’s swashbuckling Greek eatery Kafeneion tops the nominations from the magazine, after a thrilling move from the upper end of Bourke Street into the if-they-could-talk walls of The Supper Club. Late-night soups, sweetbreads, and a wine list gleaming with Grecian grapes see it up for Best New Restaurant.
Victoria’s nominee for Best New Talent goes to Mischa Tropp, whose work you might have been lucky enough to savour when he took second-course duties at this year’s World’s Longest Brunch. One of Melbourne’s favourite itinerant chefs of the last decade, Tropp opened his first bricks-and-mortar venue, Toddy Shop, in Fitzroy late last year: a backstreet refreshment bar and restaurant and a portal the the drinking food of India’s south, specifically the state of Kerala.
Breakout Carlton hideaway Bar Olo will contest Wine Bar of the Year after debuting to full houses and widespread acclaim in April. Conceived as a companion piece for landmark Italian stalwart Scopri, the 40-seater quickly found a vocal audience of its own, with moves like pappardelle ripiene with Jerusalem artichoke, Parmigiano cream and hazelnut pesto complemented with, as the name would suggest, no shortage of full-bodied Italian juice.
Heathcote fine diner Chauncy capped a brilliant year with not one, but two nominations, the French 16-seater earning a nod in the category of Best Destination Dining, while co-owner Tess Murray was tapped for Restaurant Personality of the Year.
Finally, two Victorian dining landmarks were honoured by the magazine’s readership, with Daylesford’s definitively elegant Lake House and the mighty Attica each earning a Readers’ Choice Icon Award nomination after nearly six decades of top-tier service between them.
TheGourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards take place on Monday 19 August, with the full list of winners to be published in the September issue of the magazine.
By Frank Sweet