Ben Shewry is a renowned Australian chef and the owner of Attica, a fine dining restaurant located in Melbourne, Victoria. Born in 1977 in New Zealand, Shewry spent his childhood in North Taranaki. He grew up in a family that valued food and cooking, and he developed an early interest in the culinary arts.
Shewry began his career in New Zealand, working at several top restaurants including Wellington’s iconic Boulcott Street Bistro. In 2002, he moved to Australia and took up a position as sous chef at Vue de Monde, a fine dining establishment in Melbourne. He worked there for two years before accepting a position as head chef at the restaurant of the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld, Victoria.
In 2005, Shewry opened his own restaurant, Attica, in Ripponlea, a suburb of Melbourne. Attica quickly gained a reputation as one of Australia’s finest dining establishments, with Shewry’s innovative and unique approach to cooking attracting widespread acclaim.
Shewry’s cooking style is heavily influenced by his upbringing in New Zealand and his deep respect for the natural environment. He uses locally-sourced and sustainable ingredients, often foraged from the wild, to create dishes that celebrate the flavours of the Australian landscape.
Shewry has won numerous awards and accolades throughout his career, including being named Australia’s Chef of the Year by Gourmet Traveller in 2015 and winning the prestigious Chefs’ Choice Award at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2019. He has also been a judge on the Australian version of the cooking competition show MasterChef.
In addition to his work at Attica, Shewry is involved in a number of charitable and community initiatives, including the establishment of a garden at a local primary school and the creation of the Attica Soup Project, which provides meals for people in need.
Today, Ben Shewry is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most innovative and talented chefs, and Attica is consistently ranked among the best restaurants in the world.
