Perfect Plate 2025 Competition

PERFECT PLATE 2025

About the Perfect Plate Awards

The club industry's premier dining competition is designed to showcase the incredible quality and variety of food on offer at clubs across NSW, highlight the many talented chefs in the industry, and drive patrons into clubs.

T&Cs and exclusions apply

How Does It Work?

All your club needs to do is submit a competition dish for your diners to taste and vote for before 11:59pm on Friday, 18 April 2025 — it's that easy!

In addition to the Main Plate and Dessert category, we've added a brand-new category – Perfect Pizza! There will be more opportunities to showcase your culinary skills in various ways and more chances to win great prizes, thanks to our sponsors.

If your club has multiple eateries, you can submit a unique dish for each eatery, and each eatery will be classed as a separate entry.

You can enter a dish that is currently on your menu, or you can create something new — be as creative as you'd like, but make sure your diners will want to purchase the dish so that they can vote for it.

The Perfect Plate Awards are judged entirely by diners. This means that every club has an equal opportunity to win.

Once registrations close, we'll provide you with marketing materials that have a unique QR code to display in your participating eateries.

Diners simply scan this unique QR code after tasting your competition dish and complete the form to submit a score between one and five. Diners will also need to upload a photo of their receipt to prove they purchased the dish, and we'll provide a paper form to enable any patrons without a smartphone to cast their vote. When clubs register their manual voting forms, photos of the receipt and the physical manual voting form must also be uploaded, so please ensure these documents are kept.

The clubs with the highest average score at the end of the competition will be crowned the winners in their respective award categories — there will be a winner in each region, three overall state-wide winners (based on membership size), a winner in the dessert category and a winner in the pizza category.

Our Ambassadors

Matt Moran

With over 30 stellar years in the food industry behind him, a plethora of awards, a handful of best-selling cookbooks, and as the mastermind behind some of Australia's most celebrated dining establishments; it's safe to say Matt Moran is a culinary icon.

At the heart of all Matt's endeavours lies a passion for fresh, seasonal produce. He is a fourth-generation farmer and still owns a farm in the Central Tablelands of NSW. He has a love of the land and is dedicated to supporting local and regional producers and growers.

Matt's food career started at the age of 15 as an apprentice at La Belle Helene Restaurant in Roseville, where he discovered the art of classical French cooking. He opened his first restaurant at the age of 22 before expanding his portfolio of venues with the opening of Aria, Opera Bar, Chiswick, North Bondi Fish, Chophouse, Barangaroo House, and more recently The Rockley Pub situated near his farm.

Matt has also hosted prime time shows including Masterchef, The Chopping Block, My Restaurant Rules and The Great Australian Bake Off.

Courtney Roulston

Courtney Roulston first rose to fame after finishing as a finalist in Series 2 of MasterChef Australia in 2010.

For over 11 seasons, Courtney worked as the Head Chef for the Sydney Swans AFL Team, cooking for the players and working closely with the team dietician to create wholesome meals for more than 80 players and support staff.

For over a decade, Courtney has proudly represented Coles Supermarkets and the Second Bite Charity organisation as an ambassador, which involves hosting various events, making media appearances and managing catering jobs all over Australia.

Having participated in Season 12 of MasterChef Australia: All Stars Back to Win in 2020, Courtney now hosts the very popular cooking series Farm to Fork which airs on Network Ten and is currently in its fourth season. The show takes Courtney all over the country to meet Aussie farming families and learn all about the produce they grow.

Courtney’s first job was in a bowling club, and she later went on to manage a club for over 11 years. She was also one of the judges for the club industry's previous culinary competition, Chef's Table, for several years.

FAQs

What information do I need to complete an entry?
Registering is easy. Just make sure you have the following information:
- The name of your club's eatery
- The name of your chef who created the dish
- The dish name, price and description as it appears on the menu.

What are the perfect plate categories in this year's competition?
We have three categories where clubs can submit an entry:
- Main Plate Dish
- Dessert Dish
- Pizza Dish

Remember that you can submit one entry per category per eatery.

Can I enter an existing dish on our menu?
You can enter a dish currently on your menu or you can create something new — be as creative as you'd like, but make sure your diners will want to purchase the dish so that they can vote for it!

How many dishes can we enter? What if we have multiple eateries in our club? Do I have to submit an entry for all categories?
You can enter up to three unique competition dishes per eatery at your club — one in the main plate category, one in the dessert category and one in the pizza category. If your club is entering multiple eateries, each one must have a unique competition dish. Each eatery will be treated as a separate entry.

Can contract caterers enter?
Yes, contract caterers at a club can enter a dish the same way.

Is there a minimum or maximum price for competition dishes?
There is no minimum or maximum price for competition dishes, but your dish cannot be discounted during the competition period (besides the standard member discount on the non-member price). Just make sure that you choose a price that won’t stop your patrons purchasing your dish — they need to purchase it in order to vote for it!

How do diners vote for our dish?
Diners simply scan your eatery's unique QR code after ordering your competition dish and complete the form to submit a score between one and five. Diners will also need to upload a photo of their receipt to prove they purchased the dish, and we'll provide a paper form to enable any patrons without a smartphone to cast their vote.

How do you ensure all votes are valid?
Diners can only vote for each dish once and need to prove that they purchased the dish they are voting for by attaching a photo of their receipt. This ensures that all votes are legitimate and provides a level playing field for all clubs, no matter their size.

How can we encourage diners to vote?
We will provide you with a wide range of marketing material that you can use in-venue and across your digital marketing channels, encouraging patrons to vote for your dish. Make sure your staff know to promote your competition dish and can assist diners with the voting process. ClubsNSW will also provide incentives for diners to get out there and vote, with unique dining experiences and other prizes up for grabs.

What can our club win?
The state-wide winners in the small, medium and large club Perfect Plate categories will each win an honorary plaque and a media campaign worth $10,000 managed by ClubsNSW.

Marana Australia, proud partner of the Perfect Pizza category, is offering the winning club in the new category a $5000 voucher to spend at Marana.

Anchor Food Professionals, proud partner of the Best Dessert category, is offering the winning club chef in the category return flights and one night of accommodation in Melbourne, where they will dine at one of the city’s most renowned restaurants and enjoy a mentoring experience with Executive Chef Mark Normoyle. They will have the chance to recreate their winning dish and take part in a professional video shoot, with assets available for the winning club to use. This prize is valued at $10,000. Anchor Food Professionals is also offering a prize for the runner-up in the category, valued at $5000.

When and how do we get our unique QR codes for voting?
You will be able to log in and download your unique QR codes for voting after Wednesday, 23 April. We will contact all participating clubs with more information once they are available.

What if a diner doesn't have a smart phone?
We will provide a paper voting form for any patrons without a smartphone. Any paper voting forms will need to have a receipt attached. A club employee will need to upload any paper votes by scanning the eatery's unique QR code. The look and feel of the manual paper voting form cannot be altered in any way from the forms provided by Your local club.

How do I submit my manual paper voting forms?
We encourage you to submit your manual paper voting forms after the public voting period has ended on Sunday, 15 June at 11:59pm. The voting portal will then be open to clubs only to submit their manual paper voting forms for three days ending on Wednesday, 18 June at 11:59pm. To submit your manual paper forms, scan your QR code corresponding to your Perfect Plate dish to access the online voting form. Enter in all the details listed from the manual voting form and upload a copy of the purchase receipt together with the manual voting form.

How will ClubsNSW support the competition?
Participating clubs will benefit from a substantial ClubsNSW marketing campaign, at no cost to clubs. We will promote Perfect Plate across The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, regional NewsCorp publications, 2GB and Gold FM (WS FM) radio, mainstream TV and social media — follow Perfect Plate Awards on Facebook and Instagram and tag these accounts in any Perfect Plate content you share on your own pages.

There will also be a significant publicity campaign across the state to raise awareness for the competition.

When will public voting open and close?
Voting is open from Friday, 2 May until 11:59pm Sunday, 15 June.

When will the winners be announced?
The winning clubs/dishes will be announced at a special Awards Night in mid-July. The date will be announced soon and we will advise clubs when tickets go on sale.

How are the winners decided and what are the award categories?
The Perfect Plate Awards are judged entirely by diners, giving all clubs an equal opportunity to win. Diners will score your dish from one to five. After public voting has closed, we'll announce all the club winners of our award categories during the Awards night. The winners will be decided by public votes, with the club receiving the highest average score crowned the winner in their respective category.

The award categories are:
- 13 x Regional Award Winners: The club whose dish has the highest average score at the end of the competition will be crowned the winner in their respective region.
- 3 x Statewide Award Winners: Clubs will be categorised as small (0-5000), medium (5001-30,000) or large (30,001+) based on their membership numbers for the statewide award category. The club whose dish has the highest average score at the end of the competition in their respective statewide award category will be crowned the winner.
- 1 x Statewide Winner for Best Dessert: The club whose dessert has the highest average score across NSW at the end of the competition will be crowned the winner.
- 1 x Statewide Winner for Best Pizza: The club whose pizza dish has the highest average score across NSW at the end of the competition will be crowned the winner.