Ben Williamson
Ben Williamson is one of the founding directors and executive chef of Brisbane based hospitality group, Anyday.
Though his formative years were spent in Perth, then some years across venues in Sydney, the catalyst of his young career was accepting a role with Bahrain based, Gulf Air. The role was to create and deliver the in-flight menus and dining experiences for first-class passengers, allowing Ben the rare opportunity to broaden his horizon and explore the passion and spirit of Middle Eastern cuisine and culture, resulting in a burst in creativity and technical ability.
Returning to Australia, Ben finally settled in Brisbane working with some of the city’s most highly acclaimed and awarded restaurants, including Enoteca 1889 and Urbane/The Euro. After some years, 2012 brought about an opportunity to create a menu and dining experience that would showcase the flavours of the Middle East with a classical flair within the launch of new venue, Gerard’s Bistro. Gerard’s was an homage to Ben’s travels, love of the region and its tapestry-like variety of cuisines.
After seven years, and many successes, the winds of change blew again and Ben left Gerard’s to build his own restaurant, Agnes, with Tyron Simon and Frank Li.
Situated within a warehouse built in the late 1800’s, nestled on Agnes Street in the Fortitude Valley, Agnes would transform into an homage to ancient cooking methods, utilising wood burning exclusively as its medium. After some delay due to the Covid crisis, Ben was able to adapt the concept and transformed Agnes into a wood-fire bakery, much to the delight of Brisbane’s food-centric population. With line around the block and sometimes a three hour wait for Agnes’ wood-fired goods, it achieved cult status across the city.
Agnes, as it was originally intended, finally opened in August 2020, with a huge demand for reservations. The public had their appetites started for the wood-fire. With critical acclaim for its contemporary take on an ancient cooking process, its dedication to Australian ingredients and producers, expansive wine collection, housed within its architecturally impressive design, Agnes was firmly established as one of Brisbane’s finest restaurants.
2021 saw Ben, Ty and Frank open Bianca, a modern Italian trattoria on Ada Lane, within the Calile hotel complex. Bianca is situated next to the group’s restaurant sAme sAme, a venue that celebrates the beauty and nuance of South-East Thai cuisine. Bianca quickly garnered acclaim like its fellows, both for its design and menu becoming key signifiers of quality, and the group’s reputation, across the board.
2021 didn’t slow down at all, with the Agnes Bakery finding its permanent home in a heritage cottage on James Street, bringing a positive and joyous side to the lock down, much to the public’s delight.
In 2022, Ben bought into Ty and Frank’s existing restaurants, Hônto and sAme sAme, establishing an equal partnership under the company flag; Anyday.
Ben continues to work closely with all five venues’ head chefs, bakers, sommeliers and managers to encourage, maintain and evolve each and every person’s skill and passion in the venue’s specific cuisines and styles.
Ben is dedicated to the evolution of Brisbane’s blossoming dining scene and the coming years will see many more explorative and creative pursuits from the Anyday group.