Words by Joseph Steele. Image: Esmay
The Chef Hat awards may be the culinary world’s equivalent of a standing ovation, but not every star takes their bow in the first act. As we ease into 2026, a new class of dining destinations is bubbling beneath the awards radar. Venues that haven’t made the list in 2025, but are already turning heads and shaping the landscape of Australian dining.
From iconic Chefs, these venues are cultural moments, each with its own rhythm and poetry. If you’re the kind of diner who values a story as much as seasoning, innovation as much as intimacy - here’s where you’ll want to book next.
Feu at The Belongil Bistro - Byron Bay, NSW
Chef Shannon Bennett’s fire lit odyssey to nowhere and everywhere, Feu at The Belongil is something else entirely.
Not so much a restaurant as a living, breathing precinct, The Belongil is an architectural and culinary fever dream. A stitched tapestry of experience, emotion and fire-driven flavour. From the everyday kiosk that spills sunshine into your day, to a sultry, moody tasting room that might just be the East Coast’s best kept secret. This isn’t dining. It’s pure magic.
The 40-seat Feu, anchored in shadow and flame, disrupts everything you know about tasting plates. Plates arrive like plot twists - sometimes earthy, sometimes ethereal - always precise. The lighting flirts with mystery, the air hums with fervour and somehow, every bite feels ancient and immediate, all at once.Don’t expect the traditional format here. This is a revolution in multiple acts.A barefoot bistro, a clandestine cocktail enclave and a place where the sensory stakes are high. You don’t just eat a Feu, you belong. It’s great to see Chef Bennett back with his iconic sense of curiosity and creativity.
Esmay - Adelaide, SA
Chef Alanna Sapwell-Stone’s quiet masterpiece of heart and harvest is every ounce of soulful cooking.
After years of refining her art at the likes of Saint Peter and ARC Dining, Chef Sapwell-Stone has planted roots in Adelaide with Esmay, a permanent evolution of the travelling pop-up she launched mid-pandemic and all we can say is thank the hospitality Gods. What began as a three-month experiment in Noosa has bloomed into something enduring and deeply personal.
The philosophy is simple but profound. Hyper-seasonal produce, relationships with local growers and an unwavering sense of care. Chef Sapwell-Stone doesn’t put ingredients on a plate, she elevates a memory, emotion and community with each course. Menus are grounded in nostalgia - comforting but not predictable - and always finished with the signature Chef Sapwell-Stone flourish.Pretence doesn’t belong here. Just honest food, impeccably done. Expect Adelaide Hills produce selected at its peak, everything handmade and a dining experience that feels like coming home (if your home had one of the nation’s most exciting Chefs cooking for you).
Esmay has that rare authenticity that commands attention.
Restaurant Aptos - Stirling, SA
Chef Justin James prepares to shift the paradigm - again with his greatly anticipated Restaurant Aptos. Yet to open, this venue is built in a sandstone church from 1868, surrounded by the misty air and ironbark silhouettes of the Adelaide Hills. Something holy is being born here.
A name firmly etched into the Australian fine-dining psyche thanks to his boundary pushing work at Restaurant Botanic, Chef Justin James has taken on an ambitious task of producing not one venue, but a spiritual centerpiece of a triad that includes Bar Cruz and Bar Mary. Each an ode to Australian ingredients, artists and ideas. It’s more than a dining destination. It’s a manifesto.
Every inch of the experience will be anchored in Australia’s native identify. Ingredients found only here, a beverage list that dances through the terroirs of the Adelaide Hills and beyond, with a conceptual fluidity that tears up the white-tablecloth rulebook. Chef James has always been one to bend the arc of culinary expectation. With Aptos, he’s aiming to break it altogether. While the doors are yet to officially open, its evident that something rare is coming - a restaurant that doesn’t just serve food, but redefines what Australian cuisine can be.These venues don’t need a hat to justify their existence. What they offer is something more potent: a fresh identity for Australian food. They are brave. Borderless. Built on emotion and intention rather than ego.
In an industry still reckoning with shifting expectations, these three spaces are reminders that innovation often happens in the in-between. Long before the awards come, there’s the thrill of discovery — and right now, that belongs to the diners willing to go off-script.
So get there early. Get there hungry. The future of Australian dining isn’t coming — it’s already cooking. And it’s delicious.
