As of 2025, Attica has been one of Melbourne’s top restaurants for well over a decade. But it wasn’t the first restaurant to occupy the former ANZ Bank premises in Ripponlea, a tiny suburb in the city’s inner south-east. In 1998, a Melbourne restaurant group opened a French-ish restaurant called Owensville, the suburb’s original name. Chefs came and went, as did the style of food. When it was reviewed by The Age in December 1999, the menu tended towards the Middle Eastern.

In 2003, an emergency doctor, David Maccora and his wife, Helen, bought Owensville, closed it down for redecoration and reopened it as Attica. The first menu continued the Middle Eastern slant, influenced by the new chef’s stint at O’Connell’s under Greg Malouf. It was a considerably more modest affair than the restaurant we now know, and even opened for brunch at weekends. The Age reported:

At Attica, where prices are low, [chef Perry]Peters’ food lacks the opulence you might find at MoMo or Harvey’s, but it is excellent stuff for the money, the trick being the combination of fewer, less expensive, but highly complementary elements. And it is food that seems utterly sensible to me: full of clean, bright flavours, easily digested and very light with its use of dairy and heavy sauces.

Despite that generally favourable review, the Peters/Maccora partnership didn’t last. Over the next two years, another chef also departed. In 2005, Attica was put on its current course when the Maccoras hired Ben Shewry as chef. New Zealand-born Shewry had moved to Australia three years earlier and worked for a time at Circa at Prince. His early years at Attica were a challenge as he developed his own cooking style but, in 2008, he was named by Gourmet Traveller as Best New Talent. He told reviewer John Lethlean that not all of Attica’s customers appreciated his innovative approach, one protesting that “Whoever wrote this menu must be on speed”.

Shewry’s food has been described as “storytelling cuisine”. It is distinguished by its exploration of native ingredients, its expression of personal narratives, telling stories of place and culture, and a commitment to sustainability while pushing culinary boundaries. He draws heavily on his upbringing in New Zealand and his fascination with Australian indigenous ingredients. There are ants, crocodile, bunya bunya seeds, kangaroo, wattle seeds, quandong, pearl meat and buffalo. A dish called “The Edge of Reason” is a lasagne crisp made from grey saltbush pasta, topped with a bolognese using wild meats including buffalo, venison and boar bacon alongside fresh tomato sauce and sunrise lime oil.

In 2015, Shewry bought the restaurant from the Maccoras. Between 2013 and 2018, Attica appeared on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list every year. It was named Australia’s best restaurant by the Good Food Guide in 2018 and by Gourmet Traveller in 2019. In 2025, Attica remains a restaurant for the committed and adventurous gourmet, offering its multicourse tasting menu for $385. Patrons are advised that the experience is likely to last for three hours or more and reassured that the table is theirs for the entire evening.