ATTICA’S WORLD RANKING GOES THROUGH THE ROOF
ATTICA in Ripponlea has been named Australasia’s best restaurant in the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the sixth year in a row.
Ben Shewry’s restaurant rocketed up the list to 20 from 32 last year. It is the highest ranking the restaurant has achieved, which follows Melbourne hosting the global gastronomy awards in 2017.
It is a stunning result for Attica, the only Australian restaurant to make this year’s list that was announced in Bilbao, Spain, last night.
Mr Shewry, from Ocean Grove, who was in Bilbao for the awards said he was delighted with his restaurant’s placing.
“It’s an incredible honour to represent Australia over here and I’m so proud to call myself an Australian chef and work in the best city in the world, Melbourne,” he said.
“Full credit to our team at Attica for believing in what we do and making it fun every single day.”
Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, regained the title of the World’s Best Restaurant that it held in 2016, after falling to second place last year.
Last week, Brae in Birregurra was the only Australian restaurant named on the secondary 51-100 list, named 58th best restaurant in the world. It fell from the last year’s top 50 placing, when it was ranked 44.
Sponsored by Tourism Australia and Visit Victoria, Melbourne hosted the global restaurant awards last year.
Visit Victoria chief Peter Bingeman said it was exciting that Attica was recognised this year, but the ultimate aim in hosting the awards was to highlight the full spectrum of Victorian dining.
“Regardless of where restaurants ended up on the list, there is no doubting this event was worth every cent,” he said.
Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said the international exposure through hosting the awards had increased global appreciation of Australia’s food and wine offering.
“Importantly, we’re seeing this improved perception translate into significantly increased spending,” he said.