One Australian restaurant has been recognised in the long-list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, announced in Las Vegas overnight.

Josh and Julie Niland’s Sydney fish restaurant Saint Peter came in at number 98.

The announcement of the world’s top 51-100 restaurants, as decided by voters drawn from restaurant critics, chefs and well-travelled eaters, is the first stage of the annual global ranking.

In July, the Good Food Guide chef of the year Josh Niland announced he and wife Julie Niland will open the next “world-class” evolution of Saint Peter within The Grand National Hotel in Paddington this July.

Niland, already recognised as a world leader in fish cookery, plans to “really push the boat out” when Saint Peter reopens with double the seating and kitchen capacity. He will take diners on a three-part dining journey moving from eating oysters (planned to be grown especially for the restaurant) at a bar, to having rotisserie-cooked seafood in the kitchen, to the dining table where the last of nine innovative courses will be served.

Following the award announcement, Josh Niland posted a tribute to his team via Instagram: “@julieniland and I can’t begin to express our deepest most heartfelt congratulations to our whole team across @saintpeterpaddo @fishbutchery & @petermendining.
We are incredibly grateful to them and to @theworlds50best for recognising their efforts over the past years and I can’t begin to express our deepest most heartfelt congratulations to our whole team across @saintpeterpaddo @fishbutchery & @petermendining.”

Last year, Australia was not represented on either the long-list or the 1-50 list, prompting criticism from several Australian food reviewers that the voting system and Australia’s distance from the northern hemisphere have created a skewed snapshot of what good dining looked like in 2023.

The awards are determined by a voting academy of more than 1000 international “restaurant experts”: equal parts food writers, chefs and restaurateurs, and “well-travelled gourmets”. In 2023, the rules were that each academy member must vote for between six and 10 restaurants, and no more than six restaurants could be located in the voter’s home region.

Many believe our restaurants are not better represented on the lists because of long and expensive flights to Australia.

The previous best showing by an Australian venue in recent years was in 2022 when Melbourne hotspot Gimlet at Cavendish House scooping up spot No. 84. Prior to that, Attica and Brae were often featured in either the 1-50 or 51-100 lists.

Restaurants 1-50 will be announced in Las Vegas on June 5.

See the full list of restaurants 51-100 at theworlds50best.com