HERVEY Bay's Coast restaurant has been named in the top 500 in Australia's Top Restaurant - a national awards program to be decided by a peer voting process.

Restaurateurs and chefs themselves are responsible for voting for the top restaurants in the country and food and restaurant writers Jill Dupleix and Terry Durack are the inaugural directors.

"With an increasing number of international chefs talking up the Australian food scene, a prestigious national restaurant awards program such as this is very timely" Mr Durack said.

"This isn't about celebrity chefs and media darlings, it's about who is really raising standards and dishing up great food every single day.

"The results are based on the votes of 500 different chefs and restaurateurs throughout the country, which will cover a lot of ground and a lot of experience."

The list of the top 500 was compiled by a panel of Good Food Guide editors, reviewers and industry experts and chefs and restaurants that appear have been invited to vote for their top 10.  

The Top 100 Restaurants list will then be announced in May and members of the public will be able to have their say when voting starts for the The People's Award on Friday, May 1.  

Anyone can choose their favourite restaurant and vote on the website www.australiastoprestaurants.com from the list of 500 and the winner will be announced with the Top 100 list.

Coast is on the Esplanade at Torquay.

Source:  Fraser Coast Chronicle - 18 February 2015