Ben Shewry From Attica
Since the age of five, Ben Shewry believed that he will become a chef when he grow up (Life abroad in Melbourne with one of the city’s most inspiring residents. n.d.). He is the head chef and owner at the best restaurant in Australia, Attica Melbourne. Departing from Shewry’s experience in Taranaki, he grew up with profound culture.
His experience in growing up with New Zealand’s traditional cooking called Hāngi and Maori language had brought Ben to a culture shock in 2002 when he first moved to Melbourne. Ben’s enthusiasm towards culturegenerated in his cooking philosophy to embrace a native ingredient. He stated, ‘ I attempt tobring food back to its rawest form and reconnect with nature and cultural history’ (Rawtalent 2012).
As an Ambassador of the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Ben Shawry’s influences chefs and other people to acknowledge their food by connecting to the people whogrow the food, foraging for ingredients and also able to bring a great food through moderncooking without the additives. His philosophy impacted the food sustainability trend and anactual food ecosystem.
Amongst, his ideas in ‘What a Wonderful World’ gathering in 2014, inspired chefs to transform the act of eating at a restaurant into a good thing for the environment. His biggest part of being great at cooking is being great at selecting ingredients. Ben Shawry has positively impacted the gastronomy industry with his belief in thesustainable food system.
“This is an important part of our country’s heritage. Australians should have a sense of pride in these ingredients, they should know what they taste like, because the connection to your roots is really one of the most important things of all.” -Ben Shewry
