Shannon Bennett

It’s no surprise that Bennett has trained under some of the world’s finest. The classical French sensibilities that underpin his cooking were gleaned from the likes of Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White during his time in Europe. His last five years have been spent in Australia making Vue de monde into something remarkable, an elegant space where he can take classic French cuisine and recreate it into something modern, witty and incredibly extravagant. Bennett’s philosophy is to create food that would be close to impossible to cook at home. Gourmet Traveller named him Best New Talent in 2004 – since then, it’s been awards and three chef’s hats every year. Bennett’s book My Vue reflects on the lessons he learned in Europe and guides the reader through the dishes that have made him one of Australia’s most acclaimed young chefs.

Vue de monde was awarded Restaurant of the Year, three hats and an unprecedented 19/20 in the Age Good Food Guide 2007. Vue de monde was awarded Restaurant of the Year by Australian Gourmet Traveller for 2006 and again in 2007. Recently, Vue de monde has maintained its position securing three hats in the Age Good Food Guide, three stars for the Australian Gourmet Traveller awards and Restaurant of the Year and Best Fine dining for Restaurant and Catering Victoria.

Having firmly established Vue de monde, Café Vue and Bistro Vue followed in 2006 offering additional dining options at the same city location. In 2008, whilst still firmly at the helm of his three venues in Melbourne, Shannon’s sights were drawn to international markets with an exciting project in Oman coming to fruition. Vue by Shannon Bennett opened at Al Bustan Palace Intercontinental Hotel in Muscat, Oman in November 2008. 2009 has seen the opening of a second Café Vue at 401 St Kilda Rd and the securing of the tender to operate the Café and Events at the iconic Heide Museum of Modern Art (due to open November 2009).