A double award victory has placed a hinterland restaurant among Australia’s standout dining destinations and recognised it as Queensland’s best restaurant for 2026.
The Woodshed at Kin Kin has been awarded Best Destination Dining and Queensland Restaurant of the Year at the recent 2026 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards.
Announced ahead of the September issue of Gourmet Traveller, the awards mark the magazine’s 60th year in Australia. They are determined by independent reviewers who dine anonymously and pay their own way, with restaurants assessed on the overall experience, including food and drink, ambience, service and setting.
Gourmet Traveller editor and awards emcee David Meagher said the Best Destination Dining award recognised restaurants where the food was compelling enough to make the journey worthwhile.
“This award recognises exceptional dining experiences that take place outside of our capital cities,” he said.
“Bucolic settings and fresh air are obvious draws, but this year’s nominees don’t leave all the heavy lifting to the scenery.
“Instead, they offer dining and drinking experiences that would be remarkable in any setting.
“At the historic 112-year-old Kin Kin Hotel, The Woodshed is a regional restaurant that feels deeply rooted in its surroundings.
“Chef-owner Oscar Holgado and his team make the most of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, from their own market garden and farm animals to a seven-course menu built around seasonal produce, open-fire cooking, pickling and curing.”
Mr Holgado, 37, admits the double win was unexpected and said the restaurant’s location in a small hinterland community of roughly 800 people contributed to his surprise.
The historic Kin Kin Hotel was renovated by owners David and Ellie Ezrine and re-opened in November 2023. It has nine heritage guestrooms upstairs.
Mr Holgado said The Woodshed was born out of an idea to transform “this old barn in the back garden of a pub” into a seven-course degustation dining destination. The restaurant opened in August last year.
“We’ve just been quietly toiling away at doing what we do and we’re very, very happy and so proud to be recognised by such a prestigious publication,” Mr Holgado said.
After leaving cooking school almost 20 years ago, Mr Holgado worked in London, spending six years with Angela Hartnett at her one-Michelin-starred restaurant and progressing to head chef. He also worked with Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley in London before joining Tom Adams at Coombeshead Farm, a 66-acre farm, restaurant and bakery in Cornwall.
That experience helped shape the philosophy behind The Woodshed. He said it opened his eyes to “what good food really can be” and “cooking for cooking’s sake rather than cooking for accolades”.
Mr Holgado and his team rear pigs, ducks and chickens on the property while also working with local producers. The menu combines meat and vegetables, with Mr Holgado placing particular emphasis on produce from the garden and surrounding region.
“Close to 20 individual plates go down on the table over the course of the night,” he said. “I’ve lost count.”
Mr Meagher said the Queensland Restaurant of the Year award further recognised the restaurant’s distinctive sense of place.
“Our Queensland state winner is a destination restaurant in and of itself,” he said.
“The Woodshed is a restaurant that feels deeply rooted in its surroundings.”
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Mr Holgado said the restaurant’s ultimate aim was to give diners time to disconnect.
“First and foremost it’s about slowing down, right? Often you’ll go to a restaurant and you’ve got either a 1.5 or 2-hour timeslot that you have to sit down, eat, drink, get out, and it’s very transactional,” he said.
“So we like people to come in, slow down and feel like you’re at a friend’s dinner party.”
The 2026 winners will feature in the September print and online editions of Gourmet Traveller.
