It’s been fascinating to watch Sydney chef Josh Niland kick all sorts of goals on the global stage this year. Acclaim has been following the “fin-to-gill” mastermind quite closely over the past 12 months. And it’s worth paying attention, simply because Australian chefs are still so overshadowed in the bigger picture, especially when compared to big-wig Italians like Massimo Bottura and innovative Argentinians like Francis Mallmann.
The latest hit of acclaim for Josh Niland is coming from none other than authoritative French-based guide La Liste, with him and his wife Julie Niland, who co-owns their tremendously popular Saint Peter, crowned with the prestigious ‘Game Changer’ award for 2023.
That’s significant. Not just because it’s rare for an Australian chef to beat out some of the world’s most inventive chefs for this coveted award, but also because it validates his unwavering dedication to changing how the world cooks with seafood.
RELATED: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants For 2022 Have Been Named & Ranked
In 2020, Niland managed to beat chefs from New York’s renowned Eleven Madison Park and a few other big names with his comprehensive The Whole Fish Cookbook being named Book of the Year at the James Beard Foundation Awards. James Beard, mind you, is about as creme de le creme as you can get in the US when it comes to gastronomy and Niland was the first Aussie to be ordained by the historic culinary arts organisation.
It’s no secret that Niland has a single-minded desire to change the way the world engages with seafood and completely annihilate the idea of food wastage. His taking out one of the most lauded awards at La Liste just brings more eyeballs to the concept, which in turn should further centre Australia as a hotbed for innovation in the world of gastronomy. Rising tides and all.
The Nilands will see the first quarter of 2023 in with a new Sydney restaurant called Petermen in St Leonards and a mid-year hotel opening at The Grand National in Paddington, a stone’s throw from Saint Peter and takeaway off-shoot Fish Butchery.
This isn’t to say Josh Niland was the only Aussie with a presence at La Liste this year. Restaurants also representing the country at the ceremony, which names the top 1,000 restaurants in the world, include stalwarts like Tetsuy’s, Vue de Monde, Quay, Cutler and Co, Magill Estate Restaurant, Bentley Bar & Restaurant, Attica, Lume, Lake House, Brae, Provenance, Grossi Florentino, Bennelong, Ormeggio, Flower Drum and Rockpool Sydney. Newcomers like Oncore by Clare Smyth and Minamishina also got a nod in the behemoth list.
You can click through to the official La Liste website the view the entire list of the world’s highest rated restaurants from the credible organisation. For your convenience, here are the top 10 highest ranking restaurants for 2023.
RELATED: Best New Restaurants In Sydney
La Liste’s Top 10 Restaurants For 2023
- Frantzen, Stockholm
- Guy Savoy, Paris
- Le Bernardin, New York City
- Chevel Blanc by Peter Knogl – Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois, Basel
- L’Assiette Champenoise, Tinqueux
- La Vague d’Or – Le Chevel Blanc, Saint-Tropez
- Martin Berasategui, Lasarte-Oria
- Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville, Crissier
- Sushi Saito, Tokyo
- Da Vittorio, Brusaporto
