Melbourne’s seen its share of timely pop-culture murals crop up around the city in the past few months. Beyonce appeared, five storeys high, in all her pregnant-with-twins glory on a wall in Collingwood. The same artist responsible for the Bey tribute, Lushsux, saluted the man who punched a kangaroo to save his dog with a mural on the corner of Punt Road.
It was only a matter of time before our food-obsessed city devoted one of its walls to a Mount Rushmore-style tribute to some of the world’s best chefs.
That laneway is Higson Lane, next to Chin Chin in the CBD, and those chefs are Ben Shewry (chef-owner of Australia’s highest-ranked restaurant Attica), Joan Roca (of El Celler De Can Roca in Spain, currently ranked two in the world) Massimo Bottura (whose restaurant Osteria Francescana is currently ranked first in the world), Daniel Humm (of 11 Madison Park, currently ranked three in the world) and Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck chef-owner who needs little introduction).
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SIGN UPThe man responsible for spray-painting their five giant, moody faces on the wall is street artist Heesco.
So next time you’re waiting for a table at Chin Chin you can spend two minutes of that two-hour wait hanging out with your five new painted friends, just as the chefs who inspired the artwork did earlier today. They’re all in town for the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards, which are being held tonight.
Bottura took a selfie. Shewry laughed. Heston wore a blue blazer. A good time was had by all. All of which is to say, we have officially reached peak Melbourne.