Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres has welcomed a new survey which confirms NSW’s restaurants are officially the best in Australia.

The Australian Financial Review ‘Australia’s Top Restaurants’ survey, published today, found five NSW restaurants were in the top ten in Australia.

Sydney restaurant Sepia was named the best restaurant in Australia following a survey of chefs and restaurateurs from 500 venues.

Sepia’s Martin Benn was also awarded the title of Australia’s Top Chef.

NSW is home to about 38,000 farm-based businesses, 1,400 fishing businesses and more than 2,000 food processing companies producing top quality seafood, beef, lamb, pork and venison, great fruit and vegetables and internationally competitive wines.

“This outcome reflects the quality and diversity of our State’s restaurant and café scene which plays a vital role in our vibrant tourism industry,” Mr Ayres said.

“These restaurants are also serviced by a strong, versatile, well-regulated agriculture and food sector with a reputation for being clean and green.”

The NSW restaurants listed in the top ten were:

• Sepia
• Quay
• Sixpenny
• Mr Wong
• Tetsuya’s

The survey named 45 NSW restaurants in the Top 100 across Australia.

“These results cement NSW as the food and beverage capital of Australia,” Mr Ayres concluded.

A full list of winners is available at www.australiastoprestaurants.com