Meet Ben
Ben has 18+ years of experience as a chef. Having grown up in Byron Bay, he trained in Brisbane, worked overseas, and returned to the Northern Rivers in 2015.
Before opening Pipit, Ben led award-winning teams as:
Executive Chef at Paper Daisy/Halcyon House in Cabarita Beach (2015-2019) for restaurant, bar, rooms, functions, events.
Head Chef, Esquire in Brisbane (2012-2014) as part of the opening team.
Chef-de-partie at Noma in Copenhagen (2009-2012), as part of the team for their first #1 in World’s 50 Best.
Lat 27, Room Two and Urbane in Brisbane (2002-2009)
His upbringing has given him a keen sense of problem-solving and a desire to build from the ground up, and making the effort to create everything from scratch – from bread, ice creams, to ham and misos.
Awards
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
2021 - Finalist - Eat Easy Awards Chef of the Year (Sustainability)
2020 - Runner Up - Patron Craftsmanship Grant
2020 - 100 Emerging Chefs - Phaidon Books
2017 - FoodService's 50 Next Generation Top Aussie Chefs
2017 - Chefs defining the 2010s - Gourmet Traveler
2015 - Next Generation Chef - Delicious Magazine
2014 - Young Chef of the Year - QLD Good Food Guide
2008 - Appetite for Excellence - National Finalist
FOR PIPIT
2022 - 2 Hats & NSW Regional Restaurant of the Year - Good Food Guide
2022 - Top 20 NSW - Gourmet Traveller and Delicious Magazine
2019 - 1 Chef Hat & National Regional Restaurant of the Year — Good Food Guide
FOR PAPER DAISY (Executive Chef)
2017 & 2019 - 2 Chef Hats - Good Food Guide
2017 Regional Restaurant of the Year — Good Food Guide
Collaborations
Guest Chef events have included:
2022 - The Cook Up, SBS TV
2022 - Amaru and Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
2022 - Tasting Australia Festival, Adelaide
2021- Snackmasters, Channel 9 TV
2021- Hartsyard, Sydney
2020 - Palisa’s Farm, Thailand
2017 & 2018 - Harvey Norman/ Gourmet Institute
2017 - Auckland Restaurant Month with Euro Restaurant
2015 - Delicious Magazine “Next Gen” Chef dinner
2013-2018 - Beerkary Bakery and Brewsvegas
Charity Events
2022 Northern Rivers Flood Relief
2020 Australian Hospitality Relief Fund
2020 Tweed Coast Youth Mental Health & Mentoring
2019, 2020 Bushfire Relief
2019 Empty Bowls Gold Coast
2019 - Surfing Chefs for SurfAid
2017- OzHarvest - Kitchen Table Dinner & CEO Challenge
2012 - WAW Gathering, Attica
Listen (Podcasts)
Suncoast Prodcast - Oct 2020 (talking about behind the scenes of Pipit and early career)
Deep in the Weeds - April 2021 (talking about Pipit)