The public and industry cast their votes for the foodservice 2014 Dish of the Year awards, throwing the spotlight on prominent Sydney pastry chefs.

Executive pastry chef at Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, Anna Polyviou has won the foodservice 2014 Dish of the Year, Best Dessert. Awarded by the public and industry professionals, the prestigious award recognised Anna’s modern twist on a traditional carrot cake, which included praline crème, walnut crumble, cream cheese foam, apricot, carrot crumbs and carrot sorbet.

Congratulations to the other finalists: Brasserie Ananas, Sydney (salted caramel éclair), Moon Park, Sydney (moon pie), and Bar Nacional, Melbourne (burnt orange crema catalane).

Judges also handed the foodservice2014 Dish of the Year, Best Pie, to Sydney patisserie and café staple, Black Star Pastry.

Although competition was fierce, Black Star Pastry’s lamb shank and red wine pie entry clearly stood out, according to the judges.

“A really high quality dough that is also nicely seasoned in its own right. The filling is so fragrant with rosemary, you could smell the comfort on its way into your mouth. It was the best pie both from a technical perspective when it came to the quality of the pastry, and also from the flavour,” as reported on the foodservice news website.