By CHERIE DONNELLAN
AUSRALASIA’S best chef could open a restaurant closer to his Ocean Grove home, he has told the Independent.
Ben Shewry said the Geelong region had “a lot of potential”.
“I’d just want to have an opportunity at the right time,” he revealed.
“Longer term, there’s a possibility.”
Shewry and his Melbourne-based restaurant Attica recently earned 21st place on a revered San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
The ranking delivered Shewry the title of Australiasia’s best chef and made Attica the “highest-climbing” entrant after placing 63rd last year.
“I was blown away,” Shewry saido of the title he shared with Attica co-owners David and Helen Maccora.
“We were sitting there in the countdown – we knew we were on the list but they don’t tell you where.
“We were thinking we’d come in at 48 or something like that but it kept going down. I thought, ’Oh my god, we’re in the 30s’ and then we were in the 20s.
“It was an amazing feeling (to come 21st). Very humbling – unbelievable.”
Shewry worked at Attica several years before moving to Ocean Grove to give with Natalia and their three children a “better, simpler and quieter” life.
“We’ve got an incredible group of friends in Ocean Grove and that’s really important to me,” he said.
Shewry revealed he foraged for ingredients growing on the Bellarine Peninsula for their “uniqueness that speaks of the flavour of the place”.
