Between them, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age editions of The Good Food Guide 2011 this year serve up more than 1,300 reviews of city and regional restaurants, with additional sections for bars, cafes and a great deal more. 

For lovers of eating out, The Good Food Guide 2011 is unparalleled among food publications, but it is much, much more than a collection of authoritative restaurant reviews.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age editions of the book also recognise and reward excellence by scoring restaurants according to strict criteria applied with impartiality. The very best are also awarded the coveted chef’s hats. 

These are now so highly regarded that the term ‘hatted restaurant’ has entered the vernacular of Australian diners. 

No other food guide in Australia – arguably the world – comes close to the scope of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald editions of The Good Food Guide.

This year, more than 100 reviewers were dispatched around Sydney, Melbourne, and regional NSW and Victoria to review more than 1,000 restaurants for this year’s Guide. Hundreds of other dining establishments including bars, pubs and cafes are also reviewed and listed.

Every restaurant in the Guide is freshly reviewed and visited every year, a job that involves reviewers travelling thousands of kilometers over a period of at least seven months.

The Good Food Guide Awards nights in Sydney and Melbourne are the hottest ticket in town for the restaurant industry and fantastic events that celebrate its strength and quality.

Food lovers who buy The Sydney Morning Herald edition of The Good Food Guide 2011 will be delighted at the return of one of Australia’s most revered restaurant critics, Terry Durack, who, after an absence of nine years, this year joins experienced food and restaurant writer (and Crave Sydney International Food Festival Director) Joanna Savill as co-editor. 

 “It’s a great pleasure to have worked on the 26th Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide”, Terry said. “And it’s a real thrill to see that the restaurant scene in Sydney and NSW has really consolidated, so it’s not just great high-end and low-end dining, but everything in between.”

Co-editor Joanna Savill said: “This is my fourth year on The Good Food Guide and it’s been fabulous to work with Terry in putting it together, as well as with our team of talented and dedicated reviewers.

“We are confident we have really called it as it is – and there are a few surprises this year!”

The Age Good Food Guide 2011 editor, Janne Apelgren, said this year’s edition of the book would provide plenty of mouth-watering new features.

“This year’s edition is the biggest we’ve ever produced and has something for everyone, from devotees of the most sophisticated dining experiences to lovers of great pub food – and just about everything in between,” Janne said.  

“This year we have around 100 new restaurants, bars and cafes joining the Guide’s recommended places to eat: That’s nearly one-in-five of the places listed. It’s been great to see a real resurgence in pub dining during the year, and in country eating too. We’ve also seen a return to the BYO,” Apelgren said.

The Age Good Food Guide 2011 includes a number of new sections, features and awards, all designed to make the book an indispensible dining guide to anyone living in, or visiting, Melbourne and Victoria.

The Age Good Food Guide 2011 is published on August 31 and The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011 on September 7, available from bookstores and newsagents for $29.95. 

The iPhone Good Food Guide 2011 apps can be downloaded from the iTunes store for $9.95

Joanna Savill is the Festival Director of Fairfax Media and the co-editor of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011. She also writes for publications both in Australia and internationally, including The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Living section, the Financial Times Weekend, the (Sydney) Magazine and Australian Doctor magazine. With a food knowledge that borders on the obsessive, particularly when it comes to world cuisines and food cultures, Joanna was named in 2004 as the “Best overall contributor to the communication of food” by the Food Media Club of Australia.

After six years as editor of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, Terry relocated to London where he was restaurant critic for London’s Independent on Sunday for 8 years. He has twice been the Glenfiddich Restaurant Critic of the Year and was the 2007 World Food Media Awards Best Restaurant Critic. He has written six books including Yum, Noodle and Hunger. Terry is currently the chief restaurant reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald and co-editor of The Good Food Guide 2011. He likes to eat.

Janne Apelgren, a widely respected editor and passionate food lover, is the editor of The Age Good Food Guide, one of Australia's most popular and prestigious publications on restaurants and dining. Janne started as a cadet at The Age in 1977, and witnessed the birth of The Good Food Guide there in 1980. Janne is also former editor of The Age's Epicure section, day editor of The Age and, during her three decades of writing and editing, she has held leadership roles on The Sunday Age, several magazines, and was also launch editor of the Herald Sun’s food section. In her role as editor of The Age Good Food Guide, Janne oversees all aspects of the publication, from content to design and tone, building on the standards that have propelled it to become the leading Melbourne restaurant guide on the market.