Merivale's Queen Chow Narooma restaurant earns prestigious hat in Good Food Guide

When the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards were announced on November 22, Queen Chow head chef Toby Worthington and his team were surprised.

"We were all shocked that we were able to achieve a hat in little Narooma," Mr Worthington said.

The achievement was all the more remarkable because Queen Chow only opened its doors on December 5, 2021 and no one except Mr Worthington had any experience with Cantonese cooking so he had to train them.

"It was a lot of work but we got there in the end."

He said much of the credit goes to treating the team well to get the best out of them.

"If you develop a good culture, they will deliver the goods."

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Queen Chow is part of Justin Hemmes' Merivale group and its first regional restaurant to win a hat.

To win a single hat, restaurants must score 15 points out of 20, with the points based on food (10), service (5), ambience (3) and value (2).

Mr Worthington, originally from Kerikeri in New Zealand's Bay of Islands, honed his culinary skills in the UK.

He worked at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal for Ashley Palmer-Watts, Mr Blumenthal's main chef for 20 years.

The restaurant won one of its two Michelin stars while Mr Worthington worked there.

His expertise in fine European cuisine didn't give him the background to open Queen Chow at Sydney's Manly beach in 2018.

To prepare, he worked for Mr Wong, another Merivale venue, and the original Queen Chow in Enmore.

"I just had to learn as much as I could and read about Cantonese cuisine as much as possible.

"There was a lot to learn."

While working in Narooma's Queen Chow was completely different from working in the London restaurant where there were 50 chefs, "I am from a town exactly like this so it is very easy for me to fit in".

Mr Worthington has a team of 30, mostly locals, working across Merivale's four Narooma eateries.

"We try to employ as many locals as possible to integrate with the community and they know what locals want," Mr Worthington said.

He hoped the restaurant's hat will draw more visitors to Narooma.

"It will definitely help people stop here.

"I know a lot of people read the Good Food Guide so when they are coming down this way they will say they must come here," Mr Worthington said.

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