2016’s most stunning food photography

Pretzel and whipped bottarga, 10 william St

Chef Dan Pepperell may have jumped ship to Hubert, but his pretzel with bottarga remains a stalwart on the 10 William St menu.

Photography: John-Paul Urizar

Stylist: Aimee Jones

Featured in 50 dishes that define Australian dining in 2016

Mango and papaya with coconut tapioca and coconut syrup

The vibrancy of this dish was elegantly captured here – the colours pack as much punch as the summer fruits’ flavours.

Photography: Chris Court

Styling: Emma Knowles

After-dinner mints

Remember after-dinner mints? For our 50th anniversary, we revisited the past 50 years of Australian food – and when we arrvied at the 1970s, we couldn’t look past this classic mint and dark chocolate combo. The height of elegance, these mints were often as anticipated as much as the rest of the meal.

Photographer: Ben Dearnley

Styling: Lucy Weight

Featured in our November issue.

Anchovies, saint peter

The pleasures of seafood at Saint Peter are great and they are many. Josh Niland, the restaurant’s chef and owner, nails the classics just as he pushes the boundaries. He’s mindful of waste, interested in the accents given by native plants and has a deft way with offal, but you never get the sense that there’s too much happening on the plate. He’s happy to let his ingredients be the stars.

Photography: Nikki To

Featured in our Saint Peter restaurant review.

Anticuchos

These grilled beef skewers – typically made with ox heart – originated in Peru but are also popular in Bolivia. We featured these spicy snacks in this year’s July issue, dedicated to all things Latin America.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Vanessa Austin

Automata’s kingfish with creme fraiche, yuzukosho, shiso and finger lime

In our May issue, Automata chef Clayton Wells shared an off-shift menu for a lunch for six. One of the standouts was this raw kingfish dish, a beautifully presented entrée that shows off Wells’ Japanese influences.

Photography: Chris Court

Styling: Lucy Tweed

Bodega’s banana splits

Celebrating 10 years of serving Latin-infused eats at Bodega in Sydney’s Surry Hills, Elvis Abrahanowicz and Ben Milate shared some of their most popular menu mainstays. Once, when they took their banana splits off the menu, a grassroots petition started to bring it back – they’ve learnt from their mistakes.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Emma Knowles

Beetroot and chocolate with burnt orange

Our March issue was our chocolate special – and it definitely delivered on its promise. Darren Robertson of Three Blue Ducks shared several recipes, but this beetroot ice-cream and chocolate brownie dessert was memorable for its vibrant colours – and goji sherbert.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Emma Knowles

Belon’s shima aji with pomelo and avocado

At his Hong Kong restaurant Belon, James Henry uses shima aji (horse mackeral) here. Not readily available in Australia, we’ve subsitituted it with kingfish.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Nick Banbury

Bodega’s hot cross buns

Bodega co-owners Elvis Abrahanowicz and Ben Milgate are committed to keeping this new addition to the menu around forever. “In true Bodega style, it’s a crazy combo of ingredients that just work,” they said. We agree.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Emma Knowles

Mat Lindsay’s cheddar pie

Mat Lindsay likes to let the oven do the talking. His cooking at Sydney’s Ester is all about walking a line between care and consistency. It’s food with both guts and glory – his cheddar pie is no exception.

Photography: Mark Roper

Styling: Kirsten Bookallil

Sweet cinnamon buns

There’s nothing quite like the smell of baking to whet your appetite – even more so when sweet spices like cinnamon and cardamom are involved. These sweet cinnamon buns were one of our most-clicked recipes this year – inviting, no?

Photography: Ben Dearnley

Styling: Lynsey Fryers-Henwick

David thompson’s green papaya salad and grilled pork skewers

Coinciding with the opening of Long Chim Sydney, David Thompson’s Thai street food graced the cover of our September issue. The pork is juicy and the classic som dtum is a refreshing mixture of papaya, chilli and king prawns. Hope you don’t mind spice.

Photography: Ben Dearnley

Styling: Geraldine Munoz

El publico’s holy trinity flans with candied chilli and chocolate crumb

As part of our Latin American issue, Perth restaurant El Público shared their recipe for a spicy-sweet flan. Wobble wobble.

Photography: Chris Chen

Styling: Nick Banbury and Claire Delmar

Pasta recipes by Melbourne’s Tipo 00

Built on a foundation of impeccable pasta and good vibes, Tipo 00 has won the hearts of Melbourne diners. Chef and co-owner Andreas Papadakis believes that sticking with tradition and simplicity is the best course of action when it comes to pasta, however he says there are times when he tweaks a recipe with non-traditional ingredients.

Photography: Mark Roper

See Papadakis’ recipe for rigatoni ragu Bolognese.

Pork neck with herbs and banh hoi noodles

“My partner and I love eating like this when we have friends over – it’s interactive, it’s fun,” says Anchovy chef and co-owner Thi Le. “It’s very communal because everyone is involved from start to finish, from picking the herbs through to grilling the meat and wrapping their own wrap – everyone helps themselves.”

Photography: Mark Roper

Styling: Lisa Featherby

Flan de queso

Flans of all kinds are served all across Latin America and can also be found in our July issue. This version is something of a cross between a crème caramel and a cheesecake, dense with cream cheese and rich with amber caramel. It can be made a day or two ahead, although the temptation to sneak a spoonful will be almost overwhelming.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Lucy Tweed

Curtis stone’s lemon curd crumble

“A curd, cake and crumble all in one,” says Stone. “Lemon curd forms on the bottom with a thin, spongy layer of cake on top. A sprinkling of citrusy crumble over the cake provides a little crunch.” As seen in our June issue, we love this photo for its contrast – the biscuit-like crumble alongside the creamy citrus drizzle.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Emma Knowles

Chocolate honeycomb

Our chocolate honeycomb, featured in our March issue, is great dipped in extra chocolate, or crumbled over ice-cream for the ultimate dessert. Here, the richness and warmth of the honeycomb has been captured perfectly – we can almost taste it shattering in our mouths.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Claire Delmar

Paris-Brest

Designed to resemble the wheel of a bicycle, this classic was created to celebrate the Paris-Brest cycling race. Ours is filled with a roasted almond crème pâtissière to complement the crisp choux pastry, as seen in our November issue. We love the photo’s dramatic contrast between light and dark, along with the intricate textures of the pastry.

Photography: Ben Dearnley

Styling: Emma Knowles & Lucy Tweed

Anchovy and its bones, Provenance

It’s the most spectral of snacks dishes up at Provenance: a fat, dusky-pink filleted Sicilian anchovy accessorised with – what else? – its skeleton, fried whole. A double-whammy of salty, brittle shatter and raw, velvety give. Meta never tasted better. This photo captures the unusual yet striking presentation of the dish.

Photography: Jacquie Koolen

Featured in Six essential dishes to try in regional Australia.

Quince and apple fritters

These sweet treats are stuffed with a quince and apple filling and are deep-fried in batches – we couldn’t get enough of them in September. This photo captures the unassuming element of the dessert – a tad messy yes, but wonderfully so.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Emma Knowles

Snow pea and escamoles (ant eggs) at Pujol

Cosme, the restaurant opened by Enrique Olvera in Manhattan in 2014, changed the way Mexican food was perceived and understood in the US. Here, he has lined a snow pea with tiny soft ant eggs sautéed with serrano chilli and flavoured with epazote leaf. This small yet unique dish quietly demands attention.

Photography: Araceli Paz

Walnut, whiskey and salted caramel pie

Walnuts, whiskey and salted caramel – three fantastic ingredients combine in this cool-weather pie.

Photography: Chris Court

Styling: Lisa Featherby and Lynsey Fryers-Henwick

Yama kitchen & bar’s roasted broccoli with roasted sesame sauce

For this recipe, featured on the menu at modern alpine restaurant Yama Kitchen & Bar and printed in our August issue, the broccoli is roasted until it begins to caramelise, while sesame seeds bring a nutty, rich, textural element to the dish.

Photography: Mark Roper

Styling: Lisa Featherby

True confections salted caramel layer cake

No other artist has immortalised cake like Wayne Thiebaud, whose inordinate love of sweets has brought him fame and fortune. We celebrated the grandfather of Pop Art with birthday creations inspired by his work for our 50th anniversary as part of our November issue.

Photography: William Meppem

Styling: Megan Morton

Triple-cheese toastie

Cheese toasties have been turning up lately on the coolest bar menus. Sydney’s Continental Deli turns out a killer, which we channelled in our October issue. This photo captures the essence of the toastie – the ultimate melting moment.

Photography: Ben Dearnley

Styling: Emma Knowles & Claire Delmar