The Sydney dining community is joined in a number of ways—through food, through the online information-sharing portal Twitter and through the food media. This article discusses these connections within the dining community and the ways in which they contribute to the industry’s perception of dining and of Sydney chefs. In particular, The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide and weekly pullout magazine Good Living are significant indicators of the direction of Sydney dining and Sydney chefs. I assess the methods through which these titles contribute to the evolution of Sydney dining. Food critics also act as ‘gatekeepers’ to this scene. While they do not direct what goes on in Sydney kitchens, the influence of Sydney food critics affects how diners perceive Sydney chefs. Certain chefs are seen in contemporary culture as celebrity figures built by the media. As a result, the ways in which we understand food and chefs are changing. In one-on-one interviews with notable chefs in Sydney and through considering the effects of cultural capital amongst the dining community, I present a discussion on the impacts of Sydney food media and how they build the profiles of Sydney chefs in order to fuel what I call the ‘chef economy’.