Humble Attica crew say nothing will change

• The results: World's 50 best
• Battle for Australia's dining capital crown
• Five things that make Attica special

‘‘Humble-to-a fault’’ might be the best way to describe the crew from Australia’s newly anointed ‘‘top’’ restaurant. Speaking after news of Attica’s giant leap up the ranks of world’s best restaurants had hit home, manager Banjo Harris Plane said he expected the small Ripponlea venue’s 6-week waiting list to ‘‘push out a little’’ in coming days. The restaurant had taken 14 calls in the 12 minutes since staff arrived this morning.

Attica, headed by chef Ben Shewry, was the ‘Highest New Entry’ at the World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards in London overnight, after it assumed a history-making ranking for a Victorian restaurant of 21. The only other Australian restaurant to be recognised in the annual awards organised by Britain’s Restaurant Magazine was Sydney’s Quay restaurant, which slid from 29th position last year to 48th in 2013.

Harris Plane, who monitored news of the awards via social media in the early hours, said the award had come as a ‘‘happy surprise’’ but he also described the annual rankings as highly subjective and a popularity contest.

‘‘It’s incredible to be recognised like this on the international stage,’’ said Harris Plane, who has been with Attica for just over two years. However, he indicated that staff at the restaurant would not be getting too far ahead of themselves: ‘‘The list is funny,’’ he said of the annual World’s 50 Best rankings. ‘‘It’s a bit of a popularity contest rather than a carefully structured critique ... It’s based on whatever is popular at the time rather than what is the best.

‘‘Not to take anything away from the achievement (but) this does not mean we are better than Fat Duck, or Faviken,’’ added Harris Plane referring to Heston Blumenthal’s famous restaurant in Bray (which was ranked 33 overnight) and Magnus Nillson’s remote and ground-breaking Swedish restaurant (ranked at No. 34).

Attica co-owner David Maccora, who was in London with Shewry for the awards said the pair had headed out for some ‘‘celebratory drinks’’ following the award ceremony, during which Attica was also recognised as Australia’s best restaurant.

News of Attica’s rising star came as no surprise to Epicure and The Age Good Food Guide editor Janne Apelgren.
‘‘There’s no doubt Ben Shewry and Attica sit very comfortably among the world’s 50 greatest restaurants,’’ Apelgren said this morning.

‘‘His food is original, pioneering and most of all, plain delicious. His global peers respect him, too.’’

Apelgren added that Attica’s owners David and Helen Maccora should not be overlooked for their part in the success story.

‘‘They are to applauded also, for taking on a young chef and backing his vision for their extraordinary restaurant.’’

While Maccora and Shewry knew they had entered the coveted ranks of the top 50 (up from 63rd position last year) they were both humbled by the leap to 21st position.

‘‘They were reading out the Top 50 from the bottom up and by the time they got to the 20s we were wondering whether they were going to call our name at all,’’ Maccora told Fairfax Media this morning. ‘‘(We thought) we might have been invited by mistake’’.

Attica staff, bound by confidentiality agreements, had not been able to breathe a word of the restaurant’s rise to anyone before Shewry and Maccora set out for London last week. Only representatives from the restaurants voted the World’s Top 50 are invited to the event. Macorra said it had been a tense wait since the time he received his invitation ‘‘a couple of months ago’’.

For his part, Ben Shewry described the evening as ‘‘surreal’’.

‘‘I never saw it coming. I never expected it. It’s unbelievable,’’ he said soon after receiving his trophies and World’s Top 50 plaque on stage at London’s Guild Hall.

The down-to-earth Shewry said he did not expect life in Melbourne to change too much.

‘‘We’ve been through many ups and downs with the restaurant over the years ... I always just stay centred throughout all that. I have a very close-knit family and a group of friends who look out for me and I hope that doesn’t change.

‘‘I know there will be more interest in the restaurant and in myself. That’s inevitable. But I hope life doesn’t change. I like it the way it is.’’

Shewry added that he was proud of his crew in Melbourne. ‘‘They’re an incredible bunch of people working together as a team.’’