Some of Australia's trendiest restaurants and dining institutions have made the cut in this year's Australian Financial Review Top Restaurants, presented by Qantas.
Top chefs and restaurateurs will battle it out in the only national restaurant awards program to be decided by the votes of their peers. 
Of the top 500, there are 113 new entries this year. They range from Sydney's Automata, which has been operating for less than a year, to Melbourne's Japanese institution Kenzan, which has impressed for 30 years.
Renowned food writers Terry Durack and Jill Dupleix, who return as the 2016 Australia's Top Restaurants' directors, said the list covered every level of dining. "What's great about so many of the new entries is that they are fiercely independent, small-business operators with passionate conviction about their offering, and 'diffusion label' second openings by restauranteurs with one successful restaurant under their belts, rather than the traditional expansion of large restaurant groups," Mr Durack said.
Ms Dupleix said this year sees significant investment openings such as Bennelong in the Sydney Opera House, Long Chim Perth by David Thompson and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in Melbourne.
"But most of them are smaller, more personal outfits, often a first business for the chef involved, such as Josh Lewis at Fleet in Brunswick Heads, which has the 'fooderati' queueing for a counter seat," she said.
Melbourne's Trattoria Emilia , which only opened in   August, has made the list. Head chef Francesco Rota said the secret to the restaurant's success was keeping it simple and true to its Italian roots. "We serve what a pasta dish should be. We do what we like, you don't see foam or flowers."
The Top 100 list will be announced at a Gala Awards ceremony in Sydney on   May 2.