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A day in the life of Ben Shewry and his team.

ARRIVING at Tokyo airport in November last year to take part in the international Cook It Raw wild-food conference, Ben Shewry saw a paparazzi horde wielding cameras and microphones and remarked to his companion, Danish chef Rene Redzepi, whose restaurant Noma is rated the world's best: ''I wonder who all the press is here for, must be someone famous.'' Redzepi, bemused, replied: ''Ben, it's us.'' And so it was, and when the two chefs boarded their bus, the photographers gave frantic chase on bikes and in cars at speeds of 100km/h.

''One fellow,'' Shewry says incredulously, ''had half of his body protruding from the passenger-seat window, risking his life trying to take a shot of me, a farm boy from the New Zealand back country who happens to cook. Seriously it was hilarious and ridiculous. Being the focus of attention is abhorrent to me. I hate bullshit.''

Whether he likes it or not, overseas at least, the self-effacing 35-year-old Melbourne-based chef is a culinary celebrity. His dishes, born of foraging in his past for experiences and retelling them in whimsical, exquisitely assembled combinations of wild native plants, fruits, herbs, nuts and produce, make him in demand to cook and speak at international food fests such as Redzepi's MAD Foodcamp, Spain's Madrid Fusion and at France-based food writer and restaurant judge Andrea Petrini's Cook It Raw eco-food fests. His unassuming Ripponlea restaurant, Attica, is ranked 63rd in the prestigious S. Pellegrino list of the world's top 100 restaurants.

Ben Shewry at Attica. Photo: Eddie Jim

''Many things make Ben special and account for his acceptance as a peer by the world's finest chefs,'' Redzepi says. ''He's an exceptionally genuine and good human being, gracious, open-minded and always willing to share his thoughts and ideas. Then there is Ben the chef. His cooking is deeply personal, coming from within. He's able to bring his upbringing, his memories, all those special moments that have made their mark on him into the 'right now' while giving every plate a striking sense of place. Attica is somewhere you go for more than just the meal: you go for the story.''

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Of Shewry's place in the international pantheon of chefs, Petrini doesn't mince words. ''F---ing high,'' he says. ''Ben is a perfectionist, but doesn't tread the dry lands of pure technique and technology. His work showcases a distinctive balance between rational and sensual, cognitive and a more immediate instinctive approach. When he delivers Dry Your Eyes Sweetheart, a dish conceived as a tribute to a fisherman friend [Melbourne fish wholesaler Jason Jurie], who passed away, it's more than food; it's autobiography, memory made public.''

Yet on his home turf, and just the way chef Shewry likes it, the paparazzi rush right on by without a glance. Shewry, it's said, is the best little-known chef in the land - some swear the best chef, full stop. Despite being tagged The Age Good Food Guide 2011 chef of the year, and Attica last year being awarded its third hat and named restaurant of the year by the guide, Shewry is hardly a household name in Australia. ''Ben's not a massive self-promoter like some chefs,'' says Joanna Savill, director of next week's Crave Sydney International Food Festival. ''He's interested in cooking, not playing the fame game. He quietly does his thing as he wants to do it. Australia would be a lot poorer if we didn't have chefs like Ben pushing the envelope and doing something personal and artistic.''

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