Ben Shewry behind edible garden for retirement home residents

Attica chef Ben Shewry has designed an edible garden for The Grace Albert Park Lake, a new 18-storey retirement village in South Melbourne.

His three hatted restaurant in Melbourne’s Ripponlea pioneered the use of edible gardens ingredients across its award winning menus using produce harvested from the nearby Ripponlea mansion estate.

Harley Moraitis, The Grace’s manager, approached Shewry about creating an edible garden for the 79-apartment building that residents will be able to grow produce to cook in their own kitchens.

Shewry told The Age he loved the whole concept. “It sits with our ethos as a brand and the restaurant. It's something we're already doing every day, so it makes sense for me to consult on this," he said.

Among Shewry’s recommendations included cherry tomatoes, lettuces with leaves that can easily be ripped off for salads, basils, spinach, and indigenous herbs.

Shewry says an edible garden would be ‘‘non-negotiable’’ if he were to live in a retirement home.

"For me, the idea that you can go to a space that’s your own within the retirement village and harvest something for your dinner, whether it be a salad or herbs to finish a meal, I know it would enrich my life, because that’s what I do every day,” he said.

Sheridan Randall, 28^th November 2018