On March 15, 2020 Ben Shewry woke up knowing his business was going to collapse. It was his birthday and also the worst day of his life. 

Melbourne was going into lockdown, forcing him to close the doors of his restaurant Attica, and to cancel thousands of bookings for his $300 a head tasting menu. 

But instead of giving up, Shewry decided to make a commitment to his 40 full-time staff to keep going. Now, not only is Attica still open, but Ben is about to open another restaurant in the Yarra Valley, Attica Summer Camp. 

How did Shewry use the chaos of 2020 to feed his creativity? How has his commitment to a fun working environment and a positive attitude kept his team afloat? Ben sees problems as the definition of business and likes to deal with them as they come, with positivity.  

Shewry also shares his tips to help you turn every meal at home into a great one, from selecting the best ingredients to cook with, knife tips, and how to make amazing eggs. 

Ben’s favourite cookbooks:

• Anything by Fergus Henderson 
• Stephanie Alexander 
• Maggie Beer 
• Neil Perry 
• Adam Liaw 

Ben’s favourite kitchen products:

• Gippsland jersey butter
• 20cm All-Clad Copper Core Fry Pan
• Victorinox knives

Links to Ben’s Restaurants: 

• Attica
• Attica Summer Camp
• Instagram: @benshewry and @atticamelbourne and @atticasummercamp

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at [email protected]

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co  

CREDITS

Produced by Inventium

Host: Amantha Imber

Production support from Deadset Studios

Episode producer: Jenna Koda

Sound engineer: Martin Imber

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