Attica

Ph: (03) 9530 0111; 74 Glen Eira Rd, Balaclava 3183 www.attica.com.au

Vittoria Restaurant of the Year, $$ +, * for Food
Open Tue-Sat 6-10.30pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V EFT
Chef Ben Shewry (5-12-08) Owner David & Helen Maccora (5-12-08)

Mietta's Review
This used to be the much loved Ownesville restaurant, sold, renovated and reopened early in 2003. Late in 2005 a new team has made a vast improvement to Attica. Ex-New Zealand chef, Ben Shewry, fresh from service at Circa under Andrew McConnell, is producing first class modern Australian food that is truly modern. The room is elegant, in its chocolate, eggplant and cream tones, the service is professional, and the wine list is short but well selected. This is now a dining destination with prices that are reasonable for the quality and a much improved wine list.

Other published opinions

Courier Mail Food and Wine Guide 2009 Queensland "Ben Shewry is one of Australia's most talked about chefs"

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 17/20 "Sometimes, the trouble with great food is all the baggage that goes with it: you're made to feel like you should be kissing the chef's napkin ring while sitting in some temple to gastronomy"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2009 "This low-key former suburban bank building is the surprising setting for some of Melbourne's most creative and delightful food"

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: ** "A former bank in little-known Ripponlea may not be a likely source of excited food noise but the buzz about Attica keeps building. The modestly decorated dining room - all earthy tones and comfortably conservative furniture - could have you wondering if you're in the right place"

Herald Sun Extra Food, Bob Hart, 29-07-08 Score: **** "Prepare to be dazzled by chef Ben Shewry's kitchen creations, particularly if you opt for the tasting menu, which may see you sample a smoked trout broth, sea tastes or a sliver of venison"

Herald Sun Stephen Downes, 17-06-08 Score: 15/20 "You might think I'm quibbling, but Attica's spoons don't do a proper job. Here's one of our better restaurants setting spoons with rounded bowls and quite thick edges. I would have loved a pointy spoon with thin lips to scoop up the terrific "seaweed broth" over my john dory ($39). I had to use bread to mop it up. The broth is based on ham hocks its seaweed component is no more than a gentle haunt"

Herald Sun Eat, Bob Hart, 29-09-07 " Attica, which after a few years of comparative neglect has been 'discovered' by a flurry of old food queens convinced they invented it. Or something. Well, they didn't. Attica, in the gastronomically challenged neighbourhood of Ripponlea, has been firing ever since an enlightened young Kiwi chef named Ben Shewry took the reins more than two years ago. And a return visit last week demonstrated that the fearless and inventive Shewry continues to dazzle anyone prepared to seek out this improbable little establishment."

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 16/20, Two Hats "A sedate bank building in Ripponlea village isn't the first place you'd look for a thrilling meal. Even inside, the feeling is poised rather than exciting: earth tones, a genteel buzz, assured service"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "Ripponwhere? One of the many pleasures of the Attica experience is finding it in a part of Melbourne that hasn't loomed large on the city's dining map"

The Age John Lethlean, 4-7-2007 "Creativity, doing things from scratch, putting elements together to come up with a deceptively pure and simple whole: these are the first principles of a bloke who doesn't seem to accept the concept of shortcuts. The result is food that is unique. A series of entrees here is quite possibly Melbourne's most exciting degustation."

The Age Dani Valent, 8-5-2007 "The 40-seat, low-key dining room has poise - all earth tones and gentle light. Service is calm, committed to the job and rightfully proud. The restaurant is in a local shopping strip that's cute during the day but dead at night, meaning a visit to Attica can feel a bit like foraging in a laneway. But, just as Shewry emerges from his expeditions with a handful of useful herbs, your journey is likely to be successful, too."

Herald Sun Dining Out, Simon Plant, 7-11-06 Score: 16/20 "Crackling with creative energy, Attica impresses. Hospitable staff serve competitively priced food that challenges and delights the senses. A shortish wine list roams the globe and offers some intriguing choices."

Herald Sun Eat Bob Hart 10/12/05 "a few months ago when a young Kiwi chef called Ben Shewry, ex-Circa and elsewhere, took over the kitchen and began to produce astonishingly good and original food. The word went out and suddenly dear old Attica is the hottest new game in town."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 13/20 "This pretty-as-a-picture 1930s red-brick building in Ripponlea was once the Bank of Australasia. Now home to Attica, its heritage-listed facade strikes a fair contrast to its thoroughly modern interior, which includes a bar, canopied courtyard and raised dining room in tasteful khaki tones."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide "A comfortable, approachable and contemporary semi-suburban bistro, Attica had a personnel shot in the arm during 2005: a new manager to get things running smoothly and, more excitingly, a ambitious young chef with talent and ideas."

The Age, October 2005 John Lethlean "This stylish, but very approachable semi-suburban restaurant is worth watching. The manager-head waiter-maitre d' was at Jacques Reymond for four years and seems to be thriving. The service and systems here, under Paul Heseltine, are switched-on. And it's difficult not to get excited about a young chef with provenance heading his own kitchen for the first time. The 28-year-old Ben Shewry is a New Zealander who trained with Mark Limacher. In Melbourne, he worked for both Michael Lambie and Andrew McConnell at Circa, the Prince. You can see the influence of the latter, particularly, in dishes at Attica."

AGFG 2004 score 14/20

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, Good vegetarian options,'makes a welcome pitch as a highly affordable bistro that delivers a lot of bang for your buck...Pleasant service and a wine list that starts at a very reasonable entry point contribute to the pleasure of this foodie outpost'

Herald Sun, Weekend, 7/2/04, Bob Hart,'a modern Mediterranean establishment that serves middle easternish dishes of distinction in a kosher shopping strip.'

The Age, Sunday Life, 18/1/03

Herald Sun, citystyle, Fine Dining, Stephen Downes, 15/7/03, Score 17/20

The Age,Epicure,Restaurants,24/6/2003,John Lethlean,Score:15/20