Keep calm and make good eggs with Attica’s Ben Shewry

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 InventiumHost: Amantha ImberProduction support from Deadset StudiosEpisode producer: Jenna KodaSound engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.