Between them, Ben Anthony and Steph Vass have cooked inside a 120-year-old fig tree on a remote South Australian island, fed skiers in the French Alps, opened venues across three states, crossed the Nullarbor fifteen times, and driven 17,000 kilometres across Australia in early 2025 in a truck they'd already named Wanda.
They met at Raw Kitchen in Fremantle — which became Mother, which is now closed. They were part of the opening team at Strange Company, one of Freo's first small bars. They created nourishing food ranges for cafes across the neighbourhood. They opened High Street Dispensary on High Street, Fremantle. They consulted on the original Good Things in Mosman Park and worked with Moore & Moore on kitchen operations. They did a pop-up at X-Wray Cafe — also gone now.
There is a pattern, and they've made their peace with it. The best spaces don't always last. The people who made them do.
Meet Benjamin & Stephanie
For most of that time, they were heads down. In the thick of it. Never stopping to breathe until the
service was done, the season was over, the next thing had already started. Two people extraordinarily good at what they did, and quietly terrified of saying so out loud.
That changes now.
Stephanie Vass - Chef & Co-Owner
Steph has been leading professional kitchens since 2012. She learned from chefs who trained under Heston Blumenthal, Andrew McConnell and David Coomer — and developed her own style through curiosity, hard work and a refusal to stop learning even when she was the one doing the teaching.
She was Head Chef at The Enchanted Fig Tree on Kangaroo Island — delivering a seven-course degustation for up to 45 guests, five to seven services a week, on a remote island with no room for error. She consulted at Allegra Dining Room in Adelaide — a 15-course plant-based degustation, intimate and precise — before heading home in December 2019. She was Head Chef at BE Foodstore in Falls Creek during snow season, and opened Ruby Rose Cucina in Norwood, Adelaide.
After years living remotely on Kangaroo Island, she and Ben came back and opened The Banksia Tavern in Busselton. Having been somewhat removed from the Perth food scene, they quietly wondered how they'd stack up. The 2024 West Australian Good Food Guide Finalist nomination for New Restaurant of the Year answered that.
Her approach to food was shaped early by the original Greenhouse crew in Perth — a team that proved sustainability and deliciousness were never competing ideas.She also holds a 200-hour yoga teacher training and is a trauma-informed facilitator. She understands nourishment in every sense of the word.
Ingredients first. Methods second. People always.
Benjamin Anthony - Host, Chef & Co-Owner
Ben's foundation is structure — built across years in Apple's retail environment, where he learned to read a room, communicate clearly and deliver experiences that felt effortless even when they weren't. That rigour never left him. His creative thinking just got bigger. At Raw Kitchen, he ran live cooking demonstrations alongside founder Heath Daly — hosting wellness workshops for up to 40 people. He went on to host large-scale events for Colour Frenzy, bringing the same warmth and presence to thousands of people as he does to an intimate dinner table.
He has been Operational Manager at The Enchanted Fig Tree, part of the opening kitchen team at Strange Company, and ran ski chalets in the French Alps. He holds a Cert IV in Massage Therapy and a heavy vehicle licence, and has a decade of experience across hospitality management and remote events.
Composed under pressure. Proactive. The kind of operator who can run a kitchen section, pair your
wine, host a crowd, and make every guest feel like the only one in the room.
Together, there is very little they can't do.
