It was three times luck for Quay restaurant and its executive chef Peter Gilmore last night when the restaurant was named Restaurant of the Year at the Restaurant & Catering NSW Metropolitan Awards for Excellence.

It’s the third major award for the Fink Group-owned restaurant in the past few weeks—it was named Restaurant of the Year at the Australian Gourmet Traveller 2009 Restaurant Guide Awards and also Restaurant of the Year at the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide awards.

Gilmore as well as Fink Group head John Fink and a number of the crew from the restaurant were on hand to collect their ‘plate’ a gala award function held at the Sydney Convention Centre.

Quay was also named the Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year up against tough competition. Other finalists in the category included Aria, Claude’s, Guillaume at Bennelong, Marque, and Tetsuya’s.

In other major awards given out last night was Caterer of the Year which went to the Australian Jockey Club Convention Centre.

Chef Sean Moran of Sean’s Panaroma was named Chef of the Year and inducted into the John K Walker Hall of Fame were caterer Belinda Frank and restaurateur John Hemmes,

Other winners included:

Best Training Restaurant—Silver Spur Steak Ranch, Penrith

Restaurant in a Training Institute—Billy Blue Brasserie, William Blue School of Hospitality.

Best Asian Restaurant—Red Lantern, Surry Hills

Best Chinese Restaurant—Kam Fook, Bondi Junction

Best Beer Café—Lowenbrau Keller, The Rocks

Best Breakfast Restaurant—The Bather’s Pavillion

Best Boardroom Caterer—JP Morgan Administrative Services, Sydney

Best Caterer at a Major Event—Fresh Catering, St Peters

Best Corporate Caterer—Avocado Group, Chatswood

Best Function/Convention Centre Caterer—Austalian Jockey Club Convention Centre, Randwick

Best BYO Restaurant—Pazzo, Surry Hills

Best Café Restaurant—Café Morso, Pyrmont

Best Coffee Shop/Teahouse—Allpress Espresso, Zetland

Best Contemporary Australian Restaurant-informal—Oscillate Wildly, Newtown

Best Contemporary Australian Restaurant-formal—Catalina, Rose Bay

Best Fine Dining Restaurant—Quay restaurant, Circular Quay West

Best European Restaurant—Restaurant Sojourn, Balmain

Best Entertainment Restaurant—Lowenbrau Keller, The Rocks

Best Family Restaurant—Il Buco Restaurant, Enfield

Best French Restaurant—La Grand Bouffe, Rozelle

Best Fine Dining Restaurant in a Hotel—Glass, Hilton Hotel, Sydney

Best Greek Restaurant—Perama, Petersham

Best Indian Restaurant—Nilgiri’s, St Leonards

Best Italian Restaurant-formal—Pilu at Freshwater, Freshwater

Best Italian Restaurant-informal—Vini, Surry Hills

Best Japanese Restaurant—Yoshii, Sydney

Best Middle Eastern/North African Restaurant—Sahara at the Republic, East Sydney

Best Local Restaurant—Bayswater Brasserie, Kings Cross

Best Mexican Restaurant—Vera Cruz, Cremorne

Best Modern Asian Restaurant—Billy Kwong, Surry Hills

Best New Restaurant—The Burlington Bar and Dining, Crows Nest

Best Pizza Restaurant—Hugos Bar Pizza, Kings Cross

Best Site Caterer—Trippas White Catering, Sydney—Art Gallery of NSW

Best Venue Caterer—Trippas White Catering, Sydney—Art Gallery of NSW

Best Restaurant Wedding Caterer—Aqua Dining, Milsons Point

Best Wedding Caterer-offsite—Gastronomy, the Art & Science of Food, Kensington

Best Wedding Caterer in a Function Centre—Zest Catering, Royal Motor Yacht Club, Point Piper

Best Restaurant in a Club—Dedes, Sydney Rowing Club, Abbotsford

Best Restaurant in a Pub—Terraces on Pittwater, Newport Arms Hotel, Newport

Best Seafood Restaurant-formal—Rockpool, The Rocks

Best Seafood Restaurant-informal—Raw Bar, Bondi Beach

Best Spanish Restaurant—Subsolo, Sydney

Best Steak Restaurant—Prime Restaurant, Sydney

Best Themed Restaurant—Outback Steakhouse, North Strathfield

Best Tourism Restaurant—Sydney Tower Restaurant, Sydney

Best Thai Restaurant—Longrain, Surry Hills

Best Wine List-comprehensive—Catalina, Rose Bay

Best Wine List-limited—Sugaroom, Pyrmont.

Best NSW Wine List—Glass, Hilton Hotel, Sydney

Caterer of the Year—AJC Convetion Centre, Randwick

Restaurant of the Year—Quay, Circular Quay