Attica is on its way

Fans of fine dining are in for a treat when rock star chef Ben Shewry brings his Attica at Home menu to the region for two nights only.

The Attica team will operate from Pakington Street eatery, Tulip, on July 7 and 8 to offer takeaway and delivery across Geelong, the Bellarine and Surf Coast.

On the menu will be favourites from the three-hatted restaurant’s past menus, as well as dishes developed over the last few months including a stay-at-home souvlaki pack and Shewry’s own take on a family lasagne.

Shewry, a former Ocean Grove resident, said the pop-up idea came about after he was recently re-introduced to Graham Jeffries, owner of Tulip and new Torquay restaurant Samesyn, and they began hatching a plan.

“Graham’s cooking and restaurant philosophy is closely aligned to mine and is one based on respect for high quality ingredients cooked in a beautiful and sympathetic way,” Shewry explained.

“Tulip is one of the best restaurants in Victoria and a recent meal there was one of my favourites of the past year.

“Simple, honest and innovative cooking – it’s no wonder it has such a passionate and loyal following from the community.”

Shewry said working together was an important way forward for the hospitality industry in these incredibly challenging times.

“The hospitality community has always been so strong and now is no different,” he said.

“You have to really love hospitality to make a career from it, so to be surrounded by people who also love the same things as you do can really give you a boost.”

Shewry swung into action when the coronavirus pandemic hit, developing a takeaway menu and even doing many home deliveries himself.

“We just knew that we couldn’t close down,” he recalled.

“There are too many people that work here relying on us, and it would have been impossibly hard to tell them that they no longer had a job.
“So we just did it. We designed the menu and started within a couple of days because we had to.

“We were fighting for the business and our livelihoods.”

The celebrated chef even sprayed “Never Give Up” on the walls of his Ripponlea restaurant.

“I just had a sudden urge to spray that message on the walls in a very tough moment to encourage our team and community to do everything they can to survive,” he said, adding that staying positive every day was a key to his success.

“I would rather go down with a fight than lay down.”

The reinvented Attica menu was embraced by Melbourne foodies and Shewry is excited to now share it with a wider audience – promising each dish used the highest quality, ethically sourced ingredients.

Spice Crusted Lamb Shoulder, Potato Cooked in the Earth it Was Grown and a trifle version of the restaurant’s celebrated Plight of the Bees dessert are among the tempting offerings.

So, could this be more than a one-time gig for Attica in our region?

“Hopefully. We would love to come to Geelong more often and if the demand is there we will definitely try to,” Shewry said.

Attica at Home will deliver to postcodes 3118 through to 3230. To place an order go to: https://www.attica.com.au/delivery