WA GOOD FOOD GUIDE - NEWS

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2020/2021 - LETTER TO INDUSTRY

We are thrilled to announce the new direction for the West Australian Good Food Guide in 2020/2021. 

It’s been more than nine months since the 2019 WAGFG Awards and looking back, no one would have thought that we’d be where we are in 2020. It’s been inspiring to see WA venues, chefs and businesses innovate during this time, and we’re equally supportive of those venues who determined it wasn’t in their best interest to keep trading. Without question, the industry of the future is going to look very different from the one we were celebrating in 2019. It's very encouraging to hear feedback from venues that business is slowly returning to normal, with some busier than ever.

Like many of you, WAGFG has had to consider the best way forward in 2020. We’re really proud to have landed on the Producer Spotlight, a content program that enables us to focus our efforts on supporting local producers and in turn suppliers, restaurants and bars. We’ve had a great time bringing the “At Home with Chef” series to life with Fins Seafood – this initiative has been an energetic coming together of a group of passionate partners, suppliers, creatives and chefs. We hope you’ve enjoyed watching it.

Our inaugural Truffles Unearthed content program has been a huge success with a sell-out on all dinners, cooking classes and a fantastic response to the content program with our website numbers hitting an all-time high.

At this time of year we’d usually be in the thick of our reviewing season, but, obviously, things are a little different. WAGFG won’t have a Top 100 list this year. 2020 is a time for recovery and rebuilding, without the added pressure of scoring and comparison. We will return with a bang in 2021, with a new judging process, new criteria and a new editorial team.

This year, we farewell former Editor Rob Broadfield who is departing to focus on his work with SevenWest Media. We thank him for his contribution and wish him all the best.

WAGFG is delighted to announce that David Matthews is joining us as Editor. David has worked in kitchens and food media for nearly a decade, first as a chef, then in magazines. He’s the former Gourmet Traveller Senior Editor and restaurant critic, and was Editor of the 2020 GT National Restaurant Guide. David has presented at local and international food conferences, including MAD in Copenhagen, and written for publications including Lucky Peach, Good Food, Broadsheet and Delicious. He brings experience, energy and fresh eyes to WAGFG. Welcome.

We’re also pleased to announce our 2021 reviewing team, who’ll also be contributing to our Producer Spotlight program. We warmly welcome Pat Nourse (Creative Director at Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and former Managing Editor, Gourmet Traveller) and Besha Rodell (Global Critic for Food & Wine/Travel & Leisure and Australian restaurant critic for The New York Times) who join as reviewers, as well as Matty Hirsch (former Food & Drink Editor at TimeOut Sydney) as our Chief Bar Reviewer. Joining David, Pat, Besha, and Matty are local legends Max Brearley and Gail Williams with four more local reviewers to be announced early next year.

As for the remainder of the 2020 program, we’ll be focused on two awards, both with a Top 25. The WAGFG Wine of the Year presented by Tourism Western Australia returns and we are thrilled to announce a new award: the 2020 WAGFG Beer of the Year.

Guy Southern of Crafty Pint is heading up our beer panel along with Elliot Moore (Mane Liquor; Besk), Pia Poynton (Girl+Beer), and Will Irving (ex-Feral Brewing).

Our WAGFG Wine of the Year expert judges include wine journalist, presenter, and retailer, Mike Bennie, who is returning again to anchor the awards. Mike is now joined by Gary Walsh, wine critic/writer/presenter, and co-founder of the seismic online wine authority that is winefront.com.au They’ll be working alongside WA wine communicator, writer and judge Erin Larkin, with a fourth judge: comedian, wine expert, and Delicious magazine wine contributor Merrick Watts, putting his honors award in WSET Level 3 into practice.

Entries for both awards are now open, with more information available here. An awards night for the wine and beer finalists and hospitality industry is scheduled to take place in late October 2020, CV-19 restrictions permitting.

In addition to the awards, we’re updating our online reviews to act as a comprehensive guide to WA drinking and dining, and next week, we’ll introduce a website section celebrating some of the fantastic new venues that have launched since the 2019 awards.

And finally, WAGFG now has a new home, complete with a cooking school. Keep your eye on our Instagram and Facebook for the release of our cooking school program with our second event with David Torre (Torre Butchers) and Luke Wakefield (Balthazar) on Friday, August 7th.

It’s been an unusual year –the most important thing is that we all support each other and come out stronger. 2020 has given us a chance to reassess and shake things up; what’s certain is that everything we do at WAGFG will always be anchored by our mission to celebrate and promote the incredible industry we have in WA.

Best,

Georgia