Magpies Nest has become the first Wagga restaurant to receive a Chef Hat from the highly respected Australian Good Food Guide. Photo: Magpies Nest Restaurant.
The chefs and crew at Magpies Nest have had their hard work recognised with a Chef Hat Award from the Australian Good Food Guide.
The popular Estella-based restaurant, which has been operating in the town since 1997, received the honour during its usual January break and will now get to show off its new award ahead of its 4 February reopening.
“It was completely out of the blue. I was on holiday and checked my emails, and there it was, a message from the AGFG saying you’ve been awarded a hat,” owner and manager Hayley Whyte said.
“In Europe and other parts of the world, we have Michelin Stars and here in Australia and New Zealand, restaurants are awarded Chef’s Hats.
“It really gives kudos to our chefs because it’s about the food overall. It’s really targeted at our menu, our food and our offering.
“We received a commendation from the AGFG about 10 years ago, which is probably the last time they came through Wagga, so to have them come through and award us the Chef’s Hat is quite a great feeling.”
Ms Whyte said six criteria were involved in awarding an AGFG Chef Hat: ingredients, taste, presentation, technique, value and consistency.
“We’re not overpriced as a restaurant and we are constantly having people return from out of town to our restaurant,” she said.
“We feel that we’ve probably had people come through on multiple occasions over the last 12 months to review us and they always say that we’re consistently giving them the same experience.”
The AGFG Chef Hats are awarded on a scale of one to 20, with restaurants ranked 12 or higher receiving an award.
Ms Whyte said that by receiving the accolade, more eyes would be directed to the Wagga Wagga community, encouraging more people to try different restaurants across the region.
“We’ve always had to try and contend with the Canberra market, with it being the closest city to Wagga,” she said.
“You look at the tourism statistics, and you see everyone driving down the Hume or the Olympic Highway, and then you see where the turn-off to Wagga is; the number of people that take that exit drops so low.
“It’s always been that challenge of trying to get people to veer off the highway, come into these regional centres, stay a while, look around, spend a bit of money.
“By having something like a Chef’s Hat, we’re doing our bit to bring more people through Wagga.”
Magpies Nest will return to trading on 4 February. To make a booking, visit its website here.
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