Benjamin 'Ben' Bayly is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

chef. Bayly is known for judging

My Kitchen Rules NZ ''My Kitchen Rules NZ'' is a New Zealand reality show based on the popular Australian reality television series My Kitchen Rules. The show premiered in New Zealand on TV1 on 24 August 2014. Season 2 premiered on TV2 on 12 October 2015. On 29 ...

alongside

Gareth Stewart Gareth John Stewart (born 3 February 1980) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who is first-team goalkeeping coach for AFC Bournemouth. Stewart started his professional career with Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn ...

. He appeared as a VIP guest during a challenge in

MasterChef New Zealand ''MasterChef New Zealand'' is a New Zealand competitive reality television cooking show based on the original British version of ''MasterChef''. The first episode aired on 3 February 2010 at 7:30pm on TV One. Throughout its history, the show ha ...

season seven, episode 16.

Background

Ben Bayly grew up in Te Awamutu, his dad's side full of dairy farmers and his mum's full of Irish Catholics. He attended

Te Awamutu College Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipā District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamilt ...

Career

In September 2020 Bayly opened the restaurant Ahi, meaning fire in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, in

Commercial Bay Commercial Bay () was a historic bay on the southern side of the Waitematā Harbour that defined the original extent of the Auckland waterfront in Auckland, New Zealand. Today, the name Commercial Bay refers to the heavily developed area aroun ...

. A few weeks later Tip Top the restaurant sent a “cease and desist” letter for the restaurant's usage of the name

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

as a dessert.

The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes

In 2023, Bayly, partnered by dementia expert

Lynette Tippett Lynette Joy Tippett is a New Zealand professor of psychology at the University of Auckland, specialising in neurodegenerative diseases. Academic career Tippett has a Master's degree in psychology, a Diploma in Clinical Psychology and a doct ...

, embarked on opening a pop-up fine dining restaurants staffed by eight volunteers all suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

and

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. In 2024, Bayly expanded the group to 10 working-age volunteers all with

early onset dementia Early onset dementia or young onset dementia refers to dementia with symptom onset prior to age 65 years. Early onset dementia is a general term that describes a group of conditions featuring progressive cognitive decline, particularly in the dom ...

in his new restaurant - Origine Restaurant at InterContinental Hotel on 1 Queen Street, a walking distance from Ahi restaurant, Commercial Bay.

Personal life

Bayly is married. He and his wife have children.Michele Hewitson interview: Ben Bayly
/ref> He embarked on becoming an advocate for degenerative diseases after his maternal grandmother passed away in 2022 from dementia.

References

New Zealand chefs New Zealand people of Irish descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Te Awamutu College {{Chef-bio-stub