This restaurant was just crowned Gourmet Traveller ACT Restaurant of the Year
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Refined Italian dining destination Lunetta has taken home the gong for ACT Restaurant of the Year by food bible Australian Gourmet Traveller.
As Australia’s longest-running restaurant awards (with 2025 marking the 45th year) the country’s most esteemed and industry-leading chefs and restaurant personalities came together last night to celebrate the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards, hosted for the first time in Tasmania at The Henry Jones Art Hotel.
Lunetta – Italian for ‘little moon’ – is housed in a modernist landmark that opened on Red Hill in 1963. Owned and operated by Tracy Keeley and sons, Matthew and Nick, since its opening in October 2024, Lunetta has dazzled foodies of all calibres, from locals to tastemakers in the industry.
Tracy and Nick Keeley accept the AGT Award for Lunetta.
Open for less than 12 months, it’s a major milestone for the restaurant as it takes the baton from the multi-award-winning Pilot, which claimed the title in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Lunetta was also a national finalist in the Gourmet Traveller Best New Restaurant category, one of only six new restaurants across the nation to make the final listing.
The win comes just months after winning their first Good Food Guide Chefs Hat, awarded in April, and will join their growing list of accolades, including the Monocle Design Award for Best Renovation 2025 and the Enduring Architecture Award presented by the Australian Institute of Architects.
Photography: Lillie Thompson
“We’re deeply honoured to be named the ACT Restaurant of the Year. Lunetta has been a labour of love from day one, from restoring this beautiful Red Hill landmark to crafting each detail of the dining experience. We’re so grateful for the support from our guests, the Canberra community, and our extraordinary team who bring it all to life each day,” shares Tracy.
For the restaurant’s original inclusion in the Best New Restaurant shortlist, Gourmet Traveller said “Canberra’s dining scene just keeps getting better and it now has a glamorous occasion restaurant worthy of the city’s power brokers.”
Photography: Lillie Thompson
“A casual trattoria slings excellent pizza and pasta on the ground floor, while upstairs offers caviar, oysters and premium cuts cooked on a wood-fired grill fit for a celebration. In short: A star is born in a modernist landmark building.”
With a polished menu by executive chef Tristan Rebbettes (ex Café Paci and Saint Peter), Lunetta joins the ranks of Sydney seafood institution, Saint Peter (which claimed the top honour, scooping the prestigious Restaurant of the Year accolade), along with other state winners Essa (Queensland), Staġuni (South Australia), The Agrarian (Tasmania), Marmelo (Victoria) and Gibney Restaurant (Western Australia).
It looks like our little moon has found a home among the stars.
Feature image: Lillie Thompson.
