5 Things to Watch Right Now According to Attica's Ben Shewry

Chef, restaurateur and star of Chef’s Table Ben Shewry has well and truly conquered the cooking world. Here’s what keeps him occupied when he’s not on the pans at his award-winning Melbourne eatery, Attica.

The book I’m reading…

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties. It’s about the Manson murders, which is a pretty dark subject but it’s a fascinating story by a guy called Tom O’Neill, a journalist who dedicated 20 years of his life to researching it. The book begins with Manson but is actually a deep look into the CIA and the use of hallucinogenic drugs and mind control – a commentary on the ’60s as a whole. If you’ve seen the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this will be right up your alley.

I’m listening to…

A podcast called USModernist Radio, about architecture. It’s hosted by George Smart, founder and executive director of the USModernist organisation [which houses the largest open digital archive of Mid-century Modernist houses in the world]. He covers homes from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, plus anything that’s interesting in the world of Mid-century buildings. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright. I’ve been listening to this podcast for several years now. They give great decorating tips, too.

My favourite app...

I have a number of different ways that I listen to music but the Tidal app offers much higher resolution than say, Spotify, which I’m also a fan of. Tidal often has original recordings of the artists so the difference in listening quality between them is remarkable. I love all types of music but recently it’s been Nina Simone’s Baltimore, Neko Case singing Hold On, Hold On and J.J. Cale’s Don’t Go to Strangers.

What I’m streaming…

My partner, Kylie, and I really enjoyed watching Ted Lasso and we’ve just been watching Squid Game with my son, Kobe, who is 17. He loves it. I have two younger daughters as well and they go to bed at 9pm. So at 9pm on the dot Kobe is out of his room, ready to watch. I’ve never seen him so motivated!

The person I follow is...

Uncle Roger on YouTube. He’s from Malaysia and he basically makes fun of white people who cook Asian food badly, which, frankly, they deserve. He’s incredibly humorous and sometimes slightly inappropriate but his commentary on the food, the technique and the seasoning – even down to his absolute love of MSG – is just spot-on.

Image credit: Simon Schluter