Aria RestaurantSydney

Positioned at Circular Quay with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge filling the windows, this has been one of Sydney's benchmark fine-dining rooms since it opened in 1999 under chef and restaurateur Matt Moran. The kitchen, now led day-to-day by executive chef Tom Gorringe, builds a modern Australian menu around seasonal produce and a substantial wine list. Two hats have followed it more or less continuously through the Good Food Guide years. Service runs daily across lunch and dinner, with the harbour outlook doing much of the room's work. Part of the Solotel group, it remains a fixture for special-occasion and pre-theatre dining. Reservations are close to mandatory.