​​​​​​​Barragunda Dining named Regional Restaurant of the Year, Pt Leo Estate's Ainslie Lubbock wins Service Excellence, and Rosebud's Orson earns its first hat.

Barragunda Dining named Regional Restaurant of the Year, Pt Leo Estate's Ainslie Lubbock wins Service Excellence, and Rosebud's Orson earns its first hat.

Last night was a big one for food on the Mornington Peninsula. At The Age Good Food Guide 2026 Awards, 12 local restaurants took home 16 chef's hats between them, and two of the night's individual awards came back down the freeway with them.

Pictured | Polperro Winery

The biggest cheer went to Barragunda Dining in Cape Schanck. It was named Regional Restaurant of the Year and awarded two hats, which is well deserved for a team whose cooking is so closely tied to the land around it.

 Ainslie Lubbock, Service Standards and Business Manager at Pt Leo Estate, won the Service Excellence Award. Service is the part of a great meal you notice most when it's missing. It's the welcome at the door, the right wine at the right moment, and the feeling that you're exactly where you should be. Ainslie's award is a reminder of how much skill that takes.

There's also a new name on the list. Orson in Rosebud has earned its first chef's hat, a huge moment for the team and a good excuse to head bayside for dinner.

Pictured | Orson 

Two chef's hats

• Barragunda Dining, Cape Schanck
• Laura at Pt Leo Estate, Merricks
• Tedesca Osteria, Red Hill
• Ten Minutes by Tractor, Main Ridge

One chef's hat

• Doot Doot Doot at Jackalope, Merricks North
• Many Little, Red Hill South
• Moke, Flinders
• Montalto, Red Hill South
• Orson, Rosebud (newly hatted)
• Pt Leo Estate, Merricks
• Polperro, Red Hill
• Port Phillip Estate, Red Hill South

Look at that list and you'll see how much variety the Peninsula has to offer: small village dining rooms, long lunches among the vines, and tables with views that are hard to leave. No two are alike.

Pictured | Montalto

Behind every hat are people who show up and do the work every day. That includes chefs and kitchen crews, front-of-house teams, and the growers and makers whose produce ends up on the plate. 

So come hungry and don't rush. Book somewhere special for a birthday, make lunch the whole point of the day, or stay the night and try one more place before you head home.

 Pictured | Doot Doot Doot, Jackalope Hotels

To every team recognised last night: congratulations, and thank you for making the Peninsula such a delicious place to be.

Whatever you're celebrating, there's a table waiting. On the Mornington Peninsula, you're Always Welcome.