Born and raised in rural North Taranaki on the rugged west coast of the North Island, New Zealand, chef Ben Shewry believes that food has a deeper meaning than just another item to consume; its evocative, emotional and thought provoking, appealing to all of the senses.
Of course the key to all of this is that chef Ben Shewry has a penchant for the purity of his ingredients in his cuisine – ingredients which he forages from his home in Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Located close to the sea, chef Ben Shewry has access to an abundance of edible wild plants and vegetables, which he harvests by hand daily before making the arduous commute to his restaurant, Attica, in Melbourne.
For inspiration, chef Ben Shewry draws from his childhood; growing up in an area almost completely wild, his dishes (‘such as snow crab and potato cooked in the earth it was grown’) are shaped by his connection with the land, a passion which has led him to becomeone of the leading advocates for responsible and sustainable eating and cooking in restaurants and regularly hosts talks on the subject at well-known culinary interventions such as Omnivore festival in Deauville, France, and René Redzepi’sMAD food camp in Copenhagen.
- Restaurant of the Year,The Age Good Food Guide, 2014
- Chef of the Year,The Age Good Food Guide, 2014
- No. 21, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, 2013