But I have to admit, as a 23-year-old, I had absolutely no idea who he was before he so graciously accepted to drive up from Brisbane to meet us here on the Sunshine Coast.
The pure hype from everyone else in the Smorgasboarder office definitely piqued my interest though… something about a famous Aussie chef, a celebrity crush, and a nostalgic cooking and lifestyle show called ‘Surfing the Menu’, which aired between 2003 and 2006.
Needless to say, my work was cut out for me. It’s a common stereotype for people my age (I’m actually not one to be dismissive of everything before my time), but how on earth was ignorant young me supposed to connect with such an icon?
For many, Ben is the face of old obsessions and good memories. He even inspired a good deal of people to pick up a surfboard for the first time, which is probably why hearing his name was such a special thing for everyone else in the office – it took them back. His influence felt like a vibe, not something I could just research and understand.
The giddiness of my workmates spurred me on though. I did my research – I watched a show or two, asked my parents, and found out what he’s been up to. Nowadays, Ben’s the executive head chef of the best and most sophisticated farm-to-table steakhouse in Fortitude Valley, The 203.
It was a little intimidating… but when this Aussie icon and celebrity chef rocked up to our humble little office overlooking Alexandra Headland, Hawaiian shirt and all, all my worries disappeared. As it turns out, Ben is the most laid-back guy ever, and one hell of a storyteller.
I really do wish we could just drop all his crazy tales right here. Honestly, his life could probably fill an entire anthology series. He had us hooked from the very beginning, when he described his illustrious career and how he first got into television.
“I have a strong Italian background, so my work overseas has been primarily in Italian restaurants. I was at the River Café for five years – a Michelin-starred restaurant in London – and every now and then we used to do trips to Italy and visit different regions to get inspiration, eat, drink, and source new products like olive oil. Working in that establishment was a really special time in my career.
“That’s when I met Jamie Oliver. We started about three days apart and worked in the same sort of areas. He’s super funny, and we got on really well. They did a TV show at the River Café, which is sort of where Jamie first got discovered. When he did his show, he asked a couple of chefs to get involved. I used to live around the corner from him in Old Street in East London, so I often helped him out with food styling for his cookbook and other stuff.
“His agent asked me if I would be interested in doing some TV work. I didn’t think it would hurt, so I said yes and ended up getting heaps of jobs on daytime television. I built up my CV through Carlton Food Network, Planet Food, The Food Network, and those sorts of channels, but things really started happening when we made a show called The Best, which ran for ten episodes on BBC Two.
“Jamie and I opened a restaurant together after that, but then someone approached both my agent and Curtis Stone’s to see if we’d be interested in doing this TV show in Australia called Surfing the Menu. At the time, I’d only met him once before.”
Now Curtis Stone, I definitely know. His face is plastered all over television, not to mention the Coles ads. Yet, despite going on to mingle with overseas celebrities like Oprah, Ellen, and the like, apparently he was the sh*ttier surfer of the two, which we found just hilarious.
You could tell Ben was way too happy divulging this information.
“Curtis couldn’t surf. I could, but I was a kneeboarder, so most people say that doesn’t count – we’re a dying breed. Anyway, I remember we had a photoshoot for Surfing the Menu in Esperance, Western Australia. On that particular day, it was so f*cking windy. We were surfing together and had to catch a wave simultaneously. The number of times it took to get Curtis to stand up at the same time as me… jeez, it was a long shoot. I always say that he makes me look good in the water, and I make him look good on land.
“He’s a good-looking rooster and has some great restaurants. When we did Surfing the Menu season three, we teased the next series, so we were all keyed up to do New Zealand. Curtis had done a pilot in America for Take Home Chef, but unbeknownst to him, the agent had done a strict deal. Not even two months away from going into the full production of season four, he gets a message from America saying they’re going ahead with the pilot. He wanted to carve out some time for Surfing the Menu, but they said no.
“They did 120 episodes of that, and Curtis sort of took off from there. Of course, the producers of our show had to scramble after that, but we ended up finding a New Zealand guy, Mark Gardner, to take me around. The show was so good. Even now I enjoy watching it – I’ve got all the DVDs. We just had such a ball making it. It was a proper lifestyle show as opposed to just a straight-up cooking show.”
Every year for Surfing the Menu, Ben and Curtis would escape their kitchens and tour a myriad of different locations across Australia – from the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia to the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory – using the fresh ingredients they found along the way to inspire their dishes.
Ben said he considers himself very lucky to be guided through such remote, secretive places. While each destination was as unique as the next, one of the standouts for him was Kakadu.
“We were with this group of Traditional Owners and young kids, and we just got access to the most amazing places. I remember fishing in this little billabong, and with every cast we pulled out some barramundi. It was the best experience. They prepared some amazing food for us, and then we cooked for them, and they just loved it. New Zealand was really interesting too. We flew from Queenstown by helicopter over The Remarkables and these temperate rainforests that looked Jurassic.
“We came over this ridge which opened up to a place called Big Bay – four bays up from the Milford Sound. The only way you can get there is by helicopter, and it was just corduroy lines after lines. Mark and I went surfing as the only guys there, with the cameramen in the water. It was a perfect A-frame with five-foot waves. After we got out, we went over to the other side of the bay where there was this little tin shed with a light left-hander breaking in front of a big, bouldery sort of beach.
“The owner’s got two dead deer hanging up on the veranda, and when we go inside, all the furniture is covered in possum fur. The only downside was that, from the minute the sun came up to the minute it went down, you were eaten alive by sandflies – you couldn’t get your wetsuit on fast enough. You just get smashed by these things. I actually ended up getting a really bad reaction to it. But yeah, New Zealand was just off the chart with amazing food and people.
One of the places that fascinates us most is the Abrolhos Islands – both from a surfing perspective and because of its sheer remoteness. As you can imagine, we were delighted to find out that Ben thought the archipelago was pretty awesome too.
“It’s basically a bunch of coral reefs, and fishermen live there in these little tin shacks with jetties. I remember we were hand-feeding these huge, prized eating fish – they’d just swim up and take stuff out of your hand. One nearly took my arm off. We wanted to go surfing there after chugging out on this crayfishing boat, but five sharks were following behind, so of course Curtis shut that down. There was no way he was going in, but it looked amazing.
“The funniest thing ever was when Luc Longley was our guide over on Rottnest Island – he’s an Australian basketball player that used to play for the Chicago Bulls with Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. He’s a mountain of a man. He took us over there on his boat, and we ended up surfing this place called Chicken Reef. Curtis borrowed his board, which was handmade for Luke in Hawaii by this guru longboard shaper.
Curtis is out there with this big board, but before we knew it he got washed inside and dragged across this gnarly reef with sea urchins all through it. It’s like the one place you don’t want to end up, especially with no wetsuit. When we got back to the hotel, we ended up watching footage of Curtis trying to pick his way across the reef with this massive board – you could just see the horror on his face. The emotion was so funny. Luke’s beautiful board was so f*cked. I think Curtis was probably more upset about telling this 7’2″ dude about his board than how hurt he was. It was probably the worst experience he’d ever have in the ocean.
As much as we like to tease here at Smorgasboarder (it’s indeed a form of flattery), I’m in no position to judge poor Curtis. I’m not a strong surfer myself, so I’d run for the hills if anyone asked me to pack up my things and surf in some of the scariest, most remote breaks in Australia – alongside the conniving Ben and in front of a camera, no less. At least he’s got guts.
Although, hearing that Ben and some abalone divers played a trick on him in the murky waters of Port Lincoln in South Australia was pretty funny.
“I was sh*tting myself because it’s the heartland of some of the biggest sharks in the world, and we were going to be in six-foot-deep eerie water with kelp everywhere, with only one cage you can use for refuge. So I got a shark fin from the fish markets and tied it to some empty bottles. On the day we went out, we were talking to Curtis the whole time about these sharks, and the abalone divers were awesome – they told him the worst stories.
“Even I was starting to feel a little bit nervous. We wanted to get Curtis really wound up, because we were going to drag the shark fin out. It didn’t quite work the way we wanted it to… the wind was too strong, but he still called me a bloody as*hole for doing it. If you go back and have a look at that footage, you could see he was terrified.
“When it comes to future travels, one of my dreams is to take a good surf trip to Bali. Other places on my bucket list are Ecuador and Chile. I’d love to go back to Ireland too – my dad’s from there, so I used to go there all the time to see family and just catch a plane, hire a car, and drive straight over to Sligo.
I’m a mad fisherman, so if the surf wasn’t any good, I’d row into the middle of the lake and fly fish. I didn’t ever catch anything, but it was still amazing. You’d see mayflies dropping down on the lake and getting smashed by trout. It’s a really good place, with great surf as well.
Of course, as with every Smorgasboarder interview, we just had to ask… had Ben ever experienced a situation while surfing where he thought he might be on the menu? From all accounts, it seems like he’s been to some pretty far-flung places, some known for their sharky waters.
Ben laughed, before giving us a definite yes.
“Rottnest over in Western Australia is always scary. I lived there for a year after I finished high school – that was a bit of a dream. I could surf twice a day, whether it was at Thomson Bay or at Chicken Reef. When surfing there during salmon season, you’ll see shark fins. My closest shark encounter, however, was in South Africa.
“I was travelling there in ‘96 before I went to London. As it turns out, Cape Town’s got a heap of kneeboarders. It was amazing, because I went to one of the local surf shops and it was just packed to the brim with kneeboards. I started talking to the guy that owned it and got invited to participate in the Eastern Province Kneeboarding competition, so I met a heap of people there.
“Me and this Aussie guy I was travelling with were surfing in this place called Noordhoek, which is south of Cape Town near Hout Bay. It’s an awesome beach with big, curved breaks and nice six-foot waves. It was just us on this A-frame in the afternoon. I was paddling out to catch my last set, and as I peaked, I just saw this huge thing pop up. It was quite a significant size as well – over three metres – and then I saw the fin. When you see sharks in that part of the world, they’re going to be only one type of shark.
“Other than that, I’ve never really felt on the menu. I mean, if your time’s up, your time’s up. Growing up in Western Australia, I was right out on the cape, but I’ve never felt threatened. Nowadays, there are people getting eaten by sharks down there all the time. I guess there are more people in the water, and I think the way the ocean currents are changing has an effect on where these animals are moving.”
Despite surfing in all kinds of striking places around Australia and across the world, Ben’s favourite breaks are right at home, along south Stradbroke Island and the Gold Coast, or at D-Bah (Duranbah Beach) and Broken Head.
Ben told us he has a humble quiver of three boards, including beauties from David Parkes Kneeboards in Byron Bay and Friar Tuck Kneeboards in Sydney.
“I do need to upgrade my bigger board, because it’s getting a bit old now and doesn’t get much action. My boys don’t surf, but I’ve only got myself to blame for that. Being a kneeboarder, I never taught them how to stand up, and they never wanted to kneeboard. I suppose I was a bit selfish in that regard.
“I was born in the UK but moved to Australia in 1975. When it rained in Western Australia during the cyclone season, our street used to flood, so when the trucks came through, you could surf the floodwater with foamies. Every year we used to drive from Port Hedland to Yallingup with the dogs and the whole house on the roof. We’d go camping for a month every Christmas and surf down there.
“My boys are more into climbing and music, which I suppose is where I share my passion as well – I play bass. The band I’m in is called ‘Not Actually Them’, and we do covers. I’ve only played a couple of gigs – our lead singer is a chef as well, so it’s hard to line things up sometimes. My son’s in a band called Blatant Saint, and they’re doing pretty good and playing a lot of gigs in town at the moment. My daughter also has some songs up on Spotify, but she’s kind of drifted away from singing and songwriting.
“I guess I’ve always loved music. I played the trumpet when I was young, and I’ve got a good connection to the music industry. I’ve even chatted with John Collins from Powderfinger, who I found out is also a kneeboarder.”
This whole kneeboarder stuff really spreads like a plague, huh. Luckily, before we could pay him out for the calibre of surfer he associates himself with (we’re only joking, we love surfers of all varieties – we’re Smorgasboarder after all), Ben started talking about his encounters with some of the most distinguished people known to history. That shut us up pretty quickly.
As it turns out, in 2014, he was approached by the 28th prime minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, and asked if he’d like to work on a menu for the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which was to be held in Brisbane that year. Ben told us that it was because he was a huge Surfing the Menu fan.
“I was like, f*ck yes. I did some tastings with the G20 team, and we designed this great menu with Mooloolaba king prawns and Moreton Bay bugs – it was just a big seafood smorgasbord. Tony also wanted lamb, so I did a big barbeque too. Everyone had a set place to sit, so I remember the Russian secret service came in and moved all the cutlery and plates around for Vladimir Putin, because they were very cautious of poisoning. I also had the CIA watch me cook, which was a weird experience.
“When the royal and world leaders came through, I had to explain the dishes. No one touched the Moreton Bay bug because it sounded like an insect, but as soon as I said it was lobster, they were all over it. Barack even came back for seconds, so I had a bit of banter with him. Apparently he worked out in the morning, so he had every right to dig in. He loved it.
“A year or so later, we went to America and stayed in the San Francisco Intercontinental. Barack was there the same weekend, so they closed off two whole blocks. There was just so much security. When we were in the lobby, I saw the same CIA guy who watched me cook at the G20. He called me ‘Chef Ben’ and said he’d tell the boss I was here. I got given some presidential chocolates after that. I’ve cooked for some famous people, but G20 was definitely the highlight. I don’t think you get bigger than that.
“I’ve also met the Queen twice. Curtis and I both got invited to the Buckingham Palace the first time, and it was really funny. I remember making her laugh after I made fun of an Australian from the Liberal Party working for a Conservative Party in the UK. She asked him, ‘Why would the Conservative Party want an Australian?’ and I said, ‘Because they’re desperate, ma’am.’
“When Prince Phillip came around, it was all very casual. He’s a real funny old guy and had a laugh taking the piss out of everyone. He had no protocol and just kind of drifted behind the Queen. It was so cool. I remember Curtis was trying to steal sh*t, like an ashtray or something.”
Of course, there’s so much more to Ben’s stories than what’s written here – we only have so many pages. On the day, we also heard about his fishing adventures with Jamie, some sketchy situations in South Africa, a trashed apartment in Noosa’s Hastings Street during the second season of Surfing the Menu, and more stories of Curtis, his awful wipeouts, and his unfortunate lack of understanding when it comes to surf etiquette.
Today, Ben lives in Brissy with his wife, Dee, and three children – Ruby, Herb, and Cash. With a huge smile on his face, he told us he couldn’t be happier with where he is right now.
“My wife is wonderful. I actually met her through Jamie in 2000. I was only in Sydney for a week, so it was a bit of a fling, but there must have been something there because we kept calling. Eventually she came over to London for a couple of weeks, and I took her to Italy. I then spent two weeks in Sydney and visited Byron Bay to meet her dad. When I was back in London, I sent her a $500 cheque and told her she could either buy a flight or buy whatever – it was up to her. She ended up moving over, and the rest is history.
“It’s funny – when we first started living together, she’d make breakfast and I’d be looking over her shoulder the whole time judging her. When we had children, she did a lot more cooking, so I think her skills developed from her interest in doing something creative for the kids. Dee now works for Foodbank, which is a charity feeding everyday people in need throughout Australia. I’m an ambassador for them as well. It’s so important, especially with the cost-of-living crisis. Nearly 400,000 Queenslanders that have jobs are still struggling to put food on their table. It’s crazy.
“My kids have always been involved in the kitchen too – they can wield a knife. Both of the boys have worked with me in restaurants as kitchen hands, and now in The 203. I actually got headhunted for my new role there after selling my previous Billykart restaurants coming out of the pandemic. It’s nice to be in business with a venue that has a lot of great people behind it. The 203 is really unique in the sense that it’s the only steak restaurant in Australia that’s owned by the people who produce the beef. It’s a family-owned business that has raised cattle for three generations. When you talk about paddock to plate – we’re the dream.”
I guess there are a lot of lessons that I can draw from my meeting with Ben. First, don’t judge how interesting a book may be based on its cover, fanbase, or the year it rose to popularity. Second, just because you know nothing about a book’s subject matter, doesn’t mean it won’t be one of the sickest things you’ll ever read.
Third, never underestimate how freaking diverse the grassroots surfing community is. Truly, I am so lucky to have the chance to connect with so many unexpected characters, who I’m sure will be up there with the most insane, fascinating people I will ever meet.
Thanks for coming all the way up here Ben – you’re a legend. If you ever need help writing that anthology series, I’ll be here.
