Les Bistronomes Manager Talia Cullis, owner Clement Chauvin and Head Chef Josh McDonald at the awards. Photo: Supplied.
The Restaurant and Catering Association (R&CA) National Awards for Excellence were held this week and Canberra has once again demonstrated the strength of our hospitality scene.
This year had the highest number of nominations in R&CA history, so the competition was fierce!
Local chef and restaurateur Clement Chauvin – aka Chef Clem – from Les Bistronomes has officially scored a hat-trick of gold in the European Restaurant category three years running. He also took out gold for Premium Dining, but his biggest win of the night was for Restaurant of the Year.
Chef Clem says this win is a statement about the work of his team.
“We don’t have a view of the Harbour Bridge or sea views, and we don’t have a million-dollar fit-out. We are a little local restaurant, with very humble decor; in fact, it’s kind of falling apart!
“This means that this award is literally and only focused on our work: the quality of the service we provide, the quality of food, the quality of produce, and the atmosphere we create,” Clem told Region.
“This is what I say to my staff: this is fully dedicated to your hard work.”
The happy winners at the R&CA Awards in Sydney. Photo: Alps Creative.
In addition to the accolades for Les Bistronomes, Chef Clem’s second venue, Montrachet in Brisbane, was also awarded bronze for Premium Dining and Gold for French Restaurant.
“Montrachet is a new sister restaurant and a new baby! We took it on from liquidation, so to bring it back to this state of quality is a massive pleasure. It’s very exciting,” he said.
“I am very, very proud of both of my teams.”
Other Canberra winners included a silver for Inka in the category of Asian Restaurant and a gold for Chartwells at ANU for Education Caterer. Diplomat Bar & Grill at Ramada by Wyndham took out silver in the Restaurant in a Hotel/Resort category.
Anatolia Mediterranean Restaurant took out gold for Specialty Restaurant. The Wanniassa restaurant opened in 2023 when owners Sukru Kocak and Tania Vereschildt-Kocak took the opportunity to expand their offerings from casual takeaway Turkish Grill to a space that could accommodate a broader Mediterranean menu with room for functions and large groups.
Sukru Kocak and Tania Vereschildt-Kocak opened Anatolia in May 2023. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Tania told Region she was shocked when Anatolia was announced as the winner.
“There are some big names to be up against, big names in Sydney and the best of the best in each state, so I honestly didn’t expect it! It’s really nice to see that Canberra can be up there on the national stage, and that we’ve got some great hospitality places. We’ve only been open two years, and we’re just a little place in the suburbs, tucked in the back of Erindale, so it’s pretty amazing for us,” she said.
The Anatolia team recently updated their menu and plans to continue focusing on consistently delivering their best. And they’d would love to see more people from across Canberra come South to see the great food on offer. As Tania points out, Canberra really isn’t that big!
Tania said she loves how supportive the local hospitality community is.
“As I got up to accept the award, I got a high-five from Clem, and he said ‘Go Canberra!’, which was really encouraging. It’s nice to be a new kid on the block and to be up there with people like him who have been doing this for so long.”
The Awards for Excellence are judged at the state and national levels. Awardees must be members of the Restaurant and Catering Association.
