We all have to eat and drink. Yes, there are times when plain old dinner turns to degustation and, on occasion, libations might be merrier than a mocktail.

A particularly fabulous feast or a spot-hitting tipple will likely set tongues wagging – there’s no denying that word-of-mouth recommendations are absolutely irreplaceable.

But when a top-notch culinary experience is partnered with a thoughtfully designed destination, the act of heading out to wine and dine is simply irresistible.

Enter the Eat Drink Design Awards, an annual celebration of the most beautiful hospitality venues in Australia. Endorsed by the Australian Institute of Architects and the Design Institute of Australia, the glittering awards program spotlights restaurants, clubs, bars and bistros where it’s not just about what occupies plates and fills flutes, but also the carefully crafted environments that envelop the patrons. 

News highlights

• The shortlist of the 2020 ​Eat Drink Design Awards (EDDA) has been announced. 
• The awards program reveals the most exceptionally designed hospitality venues in Australia.  
• Finalists have been selected in seven categories; a selection of shortlisted spaces are featured below. 
• Winners will be announced on November 18.

This year’s designers have one foot in the past whilst firmly looking towards the future.

The announcement of this year’s finalists is welcome news. Like many businesses impacted by Coronavirus-imposed closures, hospitality establishments are under immense pressure to adapt. In short, a celebration with a side of normalcy is in order. “Perhaps it is no coincidence that in a time of such upheaval, we have seen designers create spaces that provide familiarity in their appearance and comfort in their feel,” says Cassie Hansen, EDDA jury member and editor of Architecture Media’s Artichoke publication. “Many designers appeared to be in search of an air of nostalgia for the interiors they create, with numerous venues showcasing a modern take on traditional spaces.”

EDDA finalists have been chosen by a panel of industry leaders from the hospitality and design sectors. This year’s jury members are ​Frank Camorra ​(restaurateur, Movida)​, Gemima Cody (restaurant critic and food writer, Good Food), ​Iva Foschia (founder, IF Architecture) ​Jonathan Richards ​(co-founder, Richards Stanisich​) and ​Cassie Hansen​ (editor, ​Artichoke​). 

The 2020 shortlist corrals finalists within seven categories: Best Restaurant Design, Best Cafe Design, Best Bar Design, Best Hotel Design, Best Installation Design, Best Retail Design and Best Identity Design. The designers of one enduring venue will be inducted into the EDDA Hall of Fame.

A selection of shortlisted spaces are featured below. View the complete list of finalists here.

Winners will be announced on November 18. 

eat-drink-design.com

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We all have to eat and drink. Yes, there are times when plain old dinner turns to degustation and, on occasion, libations might be merrier than a mocktail.

Nor has it stood as a roadblock.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, home of “Australia’s favourite portrait prize”, has revealed that the 2020 Archibald program received a record-breaking 1068 works for consideration.

The Archibald has, at times, come face-to-face with a torrent of controversy, largely outweighed by an overarching air of prestige, positioning it as one of Australia’s most prominent art awards programs.

Then there’s the cachet.

And the cash.

The winner of the Archibald, announced at midday on September 25, receives a monetary prize of $100,000 amid the grandeur of the crown.

Of the 1068 submissions, 55 works have progressed to the exhibition of finalists, a selection of which are shown below.

All of the Archibald Prize finalists will be exhibited alongside the shortlisted works in the Wynne and Sulman prizes at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from September 26 until January 10, 2021. The exhibition will then embark on a regional tour for the following 12 months.

artgallery.nsw.gov.au

This year’s pandemic climate may have reframed the timing of the program, but it certainly hasn’t hindered the excellence of works entered.

About the Archibald Prize

The Archibald Prize was established from a bequest by Jules Francois Archibald, the founding editor of The Bulletin magazine.

Archibald was a passionate supporter of a distinctly Australian style of nationalism, journalism and the arts. In establishing the prize his aim was to foster portraiture as well as support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians. JF Archibald died in 1919 at St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, with the first Archibald Prize being staged two years after his death.

According to Archibald’s will – held in the Art Gallery of New South Wales archive – the Archibald Prize is to be awarded annually to the best portrait ‘preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’.

Portraits must have been painted in the previous year from at least one live sitting with the artist.

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