South Australia's best restaurants and chefs named at Advertiser Food Awards 2013

Adelaide’s wildest man in the kitchen, renowned for political incorrectness, has been rendered "speechless" after being named Chef of the Year.

Outspoken Duncan Welgemoed was handed the pinnacle of compliments at the coveted Advertiser Food Awards, suddenly turning uncharacteristically humble and admitting he couldn't even find a naughty quip about his new-found star status.

More than a dozen key awards were handed to chefs, restaurants and hotels at a cocktail hour attended by the who's who of Adelaide's dining scene on Monday night.

Chef of the Year 2013 Duncan Welgemoed, the chef and owner at the Bistro Dom.

TV fave Matt Preston was in fine form as he handed out the accolades at Keith Murdoch House, with local identity Amanda Blair.

Matt claimed he was frustrated by Adelaide's food scene, "because every time I visit there are more places that I don't get to visit, so thanks Adelaide for frustrating me so well".

After naming the best in all of our categories, the crowd seemed to cheerfully agree with the overall winners.

The Best Restaurant of the Year award went to Hentley Farm, also taking the top honour of Best Regional restaurant. The win was from a unanimous vote by our food writers, who hailed Hentley chef Lachlan Colwill's "ambitious, sophisticated menus that meld surprise with a delicious sense of place".

Chef of the Year 2013 was bestowed on Welgemoed, the slightly wild and intrepid chef/owner at Bistro Dom .

Lachlan Colwill, the chef at Hentley Farm Restaurant in the Barossa Valley - which was named Restaurant of the Year.

The "food radical" was hailed for turning his little city restaurant into a hub for freethinkers and artisans, "fermenting and formenting in equal measures" according to The Advertiser Food Guide 2014 , to be released this week.

Guests were treated to cocktail morsels, some traditionally cooked by the previous year's Chef of the Year , this time Tuoi Do of FermentAsian in Tanunda. In these 2013 awards, the former best chef's restaurant was awarded Best Asian establishment, and also took the medal for Best Wine List, so artfully curated by partner and detail-devotee Grant Dickson.

Major sponsor of the awards, and of the Food Guide , Vittoria Coffee, also presented the special title of Food Legend to local-food champion and man of meat, Richard Gunner of Feast! Fine Foods.

His influence is seen and felt across our restaurant scene; he nurtures the ambitions of our young chefs and is an outspoken player in the drive to raise the bar for SA produce.

Welgemoed, so flamboyant in the kitchen, so eloquent on the plate, admitted to being speechless. In uncharacteristically humble fashion he simply told the crowd: "My team is amazing, I couldn't do it without them", later saying the prestigious award was such a surprise he couldn't find any more words.

Legend status in these awards has capped off a stellar year for Gunner, describing this latest notch as "awesome".

"We knew the food on the farm we grew up on was different, and we wanted to share it," he said.

Gunner credited The Lion Hotel as his first customer, saying he was thankful for their faith, "and the feedback has been growing since".

Level with the awards is The Advertiser Food Guide 2014 Forks, distinctions awarded by our food team each year.

In the last year's Food Guide, there were no restaurants considered worthy of four forks, but this year Restaurant and Regional Restaurant of the Year winner Hentley Farm has been anointed with Four Forks, jumping from One Fork status last year.

The fine diner, Magill Estate, which reopened midyear , after two years of renovations, also has been awarded Four Forks in the 2014 issue.

It’s Food Week on advertiser.com.au.

Magill is too new and untested to be considered in our finalist list, which was published in The Advertiser on Saturday, but on first impressions the team felt the restaurant would remain one of the two best experiences for a special occasion.

Only Celsius retained its Three-Fork status this year. Joining Celsius is Chef of the Year Duncan Welgemoed's Bistro Dom, upstaging last year's Three Forkers, Auge and Vincenzo's Cucina Vera who both dropped a notch to join a larger field of Two Fork restaurants.

The awards coincide with the release this week of The Advertiser Food Guide 2014 , with recommendations from our food team of more than 250 restaurants, cafes, pubs and more. It's a great stocking filler for food lovers in your life, at $14.99 from the Newshops at 31 Waymouth St, as well as newsagents and selected bookstores. The matching app is just $1.99 .

All the winners: the Advertiser Food Awards 2014

• Restaurant of the Year: Hentley Farm
• Chef of the Year: Duncan Welgemoed (Bistro Dom)
• Adelaide Food Legend: Richard Gunner
• New Restaurant: The Daniel O'Connell
• Regional Restaurant: Hentley Farm
• Best Italian: Andre's Cucina and Polenta Bar
• Best Asian: FermentAsian
• Best Chinese: From Orient
• Best Indian: Dhaba at the Spice Kitchen
• Best Community Restaurant: The Black Sheep
• Best Hotel Dining: Victory Hotel
• Best Lunch in the CBD: Pizza e Mozzarella Bar
• Best Cafe: The Stranded Store
• Best Bar: Clever Little Tailor
• Best Wine List: FermentAsian
• Best Service: Abdulla Daher, Pranzo

Fork ratings in the Advertiser Food Guide 2014

Four Forks: Hentley Farm, Magill Estate

Three Forks: Bistro Dom, Celsius

Two Forks:

• Andre's Cucina and Polenta Bar
• Appellation
• Auge
• Chloe's
• FermentAsian
• Fino
• Jolleys Boathouse
• Kenji
• Maximilians
• Petaluma's Bridgewater Mill
• Press* Food and Wine
• Windy Point Restaurant

One Fork:

• Assaggio
• Chianti Classico
• The Daniel O'Connell
• D'Arry's Verandah
• Dhaba at the Spice Kitchen
• The Elbow Room
• Enzo's Ristorante
• From Orient
• Gaucho's
• Georges on Waymouth
• The Grill (Stirling Hotel)
• Jasmin
• Kitchen Door at Penny's Hill
• The Lion Hotel
• Peel St
• Pipers of Penola
• The Pot Food and Wine
• Red Ochre
• Salopian Inn
• Star of Greece
• Terroir
• Upstairs at Hollicks
• Victory Hotel
• Vintners Bar and Grill

The Forks explained:

FOUR FORKS: Outstanding in all areas

THREE FORKS: Elite dining experience

TWO FORKS: Highly recommended

ONE FORK: Favourites

Source: The Australian, 29 October 2013