5 reasons you don't want to miss Floriade 2017

Canberra's fabulous flower show known as Floriade will transform the nation's capital this Spring as the city bursts into bloom for the festival's 30th anniversary year. Here are five reasons you need to celebrate Australia's premier spring celebration.

There will be surprises around every corner
This year's Floriade will feature amazing works of art that are set to transform Canberra’s Commonwealth Park. The masterpieces have been created by a mix of local and national talent, using everything from natural stone through to repurposed plastic. There will also be amusement park rides designed to give visitors a bird's eye view of the flowers.

The inaugural twilight concert will celebrate this year's 30th anniversary of Floriade.

This year's celebration will include an inaugural twilight concert
To celebrate three decades of being in bloom, this year's Floriade will include an open air musical performance by The David Bowie Tribute band, which is to supported by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. This ticketed event offers an exclusive opportunity for visitors to see the 2017 flowerbed designs before the gates officially open the next morning.

A walk of art... Floriade will explode in a riot of colour to mark the change of seasons in 2017

Floriade embraces four-legged fun
On Saturday, October 14, dog lovers will be able to bring along their four-legged friends as Floriade's popular Dogs' Day Out returns.  

There will be so much to see and do for children at this year's Floriade 2017.

Kids will be kept happy
Floriade offers something for the whole family in 2017 with an impressive roster of activities for children designed to encourage them to stop and smell the tulips, explore, discover and play. The kiddie-friendly activities on offer include hands-on cooking demonstrations and circus workshops.

Floriade is a celebration that will surprise and delight the entire family.

This year's Floriade 2017 will be held from September 16 until October 15 at Commonwealth Park, Canberra. Visit floriadeaustralia.com for more details

Five of the best places to Instagram autumn in Australia

Mt Tomah in the Blue Mountains' Botanic Garden puts on a spectacular autumn display each year. Image: Supplied

Take a swathe of perennials, a few arches of trees ablaze in copper and orange tones and throw in a few perfectly placed park benches and you have yourself a happy place. After a stroll through the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mt Tomah, you can gaze across the valley, which has pockets of vivid copper and red foliage. The hatted Tomah Gardens Restaurant is a great place to enjoy a kaleidoscope of autumn colours and enjoy all the region has to offer. Time your visit to coincide with the annual Leura Harvest festival. Click here for some Insta inspo. 

Fall's gold: Canberra turns on a riot of red, gold and yellow during autumn.

Autumn in Canberra is every bit as stunning as it looks. The beauty of doing some leaf-spotting in the national capital is that it's so easy to get amongst it. The bike lanes in Canberra are one of the best things about the city and the vast parks, nature strips and tree-lined streets make it one of the best locations to peep at #leafporn.  Book in to a Mushrooms and Minibeasts Family Walk at Canberra's Arboretum in the April school holidays, which includes a hike through the Himalayan cedar forest. See Visit Canberra for inspiration.

Treehuggers unite at Centennial Park in the centre of Sydney. Image: Chris Gleisner

The woodlands of Centennial Park in the heart of Sydney, NSW, can be easily covered on foot, skates or pushbike. Picking one must-see spot is a challenge but circumnavigate the park and you are sure to satisfy your urge for some seasonal leaf spotting. Strolling around this park is such a peaceful way to celebrate the season and bid farewell to summer. Make the most of the great outdoors in the milder weather and book in an outdoor movie at Moonlight. BYO blanket.

Moss Vale Garden is one of the jewels in the Southern Highlands' crown. Image: Destination NSW

Walk around the historic township of Moss Vale before veering off the path and finding your very own Highland hideaway. Leighton Gardens are situated in the heart of town and perfectly situated for family picnics. The best fall foliage happens at the start of the season. Visit Southern Highland Food and Wine Clusters for inspiration. One for the calendar is the Festival of the Roast Autumn Foodie Field Day at The Loch, Berrima

Wrap-up of Good Food Guide Awards 2016

The Bridge Room was named Restaurant of the Year at this week's The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2016 Awards. The restaurant, run by husband-and-wife team Ross and Sunny Lusted in Sydney's CBD, also won a coveted third hat at the awards and, in doing so, gained entry into an elite three-hat club comprising Quay, Rockpool est. 1989 and Sepia.

Les Schirato of Vittoria Coffee presents The Bridge Room's Sunny and Ross Lusted with their award.   Photo: Lucas Jarvis

The guide - the bible when it comes to restaurant ratings in Australia - also declared Pasi Petanen, of Cafe Paci in East Sydney, to be the Citi Chef of the Year, describing him as "a chef's chef and in possession of one of the most forward-thinking idiosyncratic food brains in the country".

Sydney's most anticipated opening of the year, Bennelong, housed under the soaring sails of the Sydney Opera House, also got a gong, taking out Best New Restaurant and debuting with two hats.

Pasi Petanen, of Cafe Paci, in East Sydney, named 2016 Citi Chef of the Year.     Photo: Lucas Jarvis

The shoebox-sized 22-seat Fleet Restaurant, in Brunswick Heads, on the far north coast of NSW, also gave us something to shout about, taking out Regional Restaurant of the Year, which denotes it is as a very good restaurant - especially considering the company it keeps.

In this year's guide, 100 of NSW and ACT's top eateries received a total 137 hats; of these, 36 were awarded in the regions. Interestingly, there are now more two-hatted restaurants than ever before. Chief restaurant critic of The Sydney Morning Herald, Terry Durack, says he's always more excited when the greatest amount of action comes with the one-hatted restaurants than the three hats.

Chef Peter Gilmore and team onstage with SMH chief restaurant critic, Terry Durack. Photo:  Lucas Jarvis.

"This means the quality of dining out is getting better from the ground up, not just from the top down, and that's what we're seeing reflected in the new Good Food Guide," he says.

Lauren Elridge, pastry chef at Marque, was also recognised as being one of the brightest young talents on the NSW dining scene as the fifth woman to win the Josephine Pignolet Award in its 25-year history.

The talent was more pronounced than ever this year in a dining landscape that the new editor of the Good Food Guide, Myffy Rigby, describes as "not so much competitive as collaborative".

The Ivy Ballroom was transformed for the Good Food Guide 2016 awards.     Photo: Lucas Jarvis.

"Chef collectives across all faiths have formed. It's bred a city with an irreverent streak a mile wild, seasoning Sydney with a Japanese-Italian flavour that's very often grilled over charcoal, woodfired over individual twigs and broken up with the odd bacon doughnut," she says.

The new stars on the drinks scene in the 2016 version of the guide include Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt, who won Best Bar for Monopole and Best Wine List for their CBD Restaurant, Bentley Restaurant & Bar. The latest edition of the guide also awarded Sebastian Crowther, Head Sommelier at Rockpool, the coveted title of Champagne Pol Roger Sommelier of the Year.

The teams that took out three hats in the Good Food Guide 2016.                  Photo: Lucas Jarvis.       

This year also saw the introduction of three new awards, with Best Cheap Eat going to Chaco Bar, a Japanese Grill House, and the People's Choice award going to the much-loved waterfront institution Catalina.

Rob Caslick was rightly overjoyed when he took to the stage to accept The Food for Good Award, which celebrates innovation, charity and sustainability. Caslick runs Inside Out Organic Soup Kitchen, which teaches young mothers and pregnant teens to eat well and cook for themselves, Two Good, which employs women affected by domestic violence and St Canice Rooftop Garden, run by asylum seekers providing produce to local business and the soup kitchen.

Chef Sean McConnell, of Monster Kitchen & Bar, awarded one hat in the GFG 2016.            Photo: Supplied

In other noteworthy news, Canberra finds its mojo with Monster Kitchen & Bar being awarded one hat as well as Regional Wine List of the Year while Muse Restaurant in the Hunter Valley retained its coveted two-hat status for the second year running with Troy Rhoades-Brown at the helm.

Muse Restaurant in the Hunter Valley rightfully retained its two-hat status.        Photo: Carla Grossetti 

To get the full list of winners and grinners, visit the Good Food website.  The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2016 will be available from participating newsagents and supermarkets for $10 with the newspaper on Saturday, September 12, while stocks last. It can also be purchased in selected bookshops and online at smhshop.com.au/smhgfg2016 for $24.99.

Carla Grossetti is one of 40 restaurant critics to contribute to The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.