What made Shewry decide to pull the pin out of the grenade?

Food journalists and critics swooned over Attica. Then their golden boy turned on them

The chef and the critic share a tighter bond than either would like to admit. When Ben Shewry took a kitchen knife to the food media industry,it landed like a nuclear bomb.

  • Liam Mannix

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Hospitality billionaire Justin Hemmes was in Byron Bay this week to negotiate the beachfront purchase.

Justin Hemmes wanted to ‘Sydney-fy’ Melbourne. Then he poked a bear:the granddaddy of Melbourne’s elite clubs

The perma-tanned king of an 80-venue empire is discovering that in Melbourne’s laneways and exclusive clubs,even a billion-dollar brand can be kept waiting at the door.

  • Cara Waters
Restaurant tycoons

Restaurant tycoons

The Age’s series on the people who make Melbourne’s restaurant scene tick.

Tinee Suntivatana,46,has almost 100 employees across five city venues.

This Melbourne cafe queen flies so under the radar,she pays for drinks at her own dessert bars

Tinee Suntivatana risked her life savings to provide a lifeline for her staff when the system turned its back. The 10th instalment of a series profiling the city’s restaurant tycoons looks at the quiet architect of Melbourne’s modern Asian food scene.

  • Dani Valent
Karen Martini.

‘Completely mismatched with reality’:Karen Martini breaks years-long silence on ACMI feud

It was the perfect Melbourne story – art and dining fused. High-gloss. High-stakes. A culinary icon returned to the fractured geometric centre of the city,Federation Square. Then,Karen Martini was hit with an eviction notice.

  • Emma Breheny
Shane Delia at his new restaurant,Maha North,in Collingwood,in 2023.

Anger,ego and a ruthless streak:Shane Delia reveals details of his feud with George Calombaris

A boy from Melbourne’s western suburbs,Shane Delia says he’s had to fight all his life. It might look like he’s made it,but he’s still fighting.

  • Stephen Brook
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Andrew McConnell pictured at his CBD restaurant Supernormal.

Banned words,dossiers on diners:Inside the invisible details at Melbourne’s famed Gimlet

A secret star system. One star:you’re a diner. Three stars,you’re a god and a table appears when the restaurant is full. In the world of Andrew McConnell,the staff know more about you than you’d expect.

  • Rachael Ward
The fire at Stokehouse in 2014.

The quiet Millennial who inherited Stokehouse and is preparing for its next chapter

After surviving a family split and devastating fire,Stokehouse has marked Melburnians’ special occasions for more than 35 years. Now,a new generation is taking the lead.

  • Annika Smethurst
George Calombaris in 2024,when he appointed culinary director at Hotel Sorrento.

The recalibration of George Calombaris:A nervous chef returns to the city that left his empire in ruins

After a high-profile underpayments debacle,George Calombaris found himself in a dark spiral – but he says he came out the other side a different man.

  • Dani Valent
Rebecca Yazbek pictured at Nomad restaurant,Surry Hills,Sydney.

‘Your husband’s been arrested’:After Alan sparked a national scandal,Rebecca was left to pick up the pieces

He was the restaurant baron arrested at a pro-Palestine rally. She was the partner left to save the business as hats were stripped. Now Rebecca Yazbek is taking control as one of the few female CEOs in Australian hospitality.

  • Myffy Rigby