From the shipyards of Sydney Harbour to a sandwich bar in Ramsgate, Nick Benatos followed his passion for food and hospitality to set sail in a whole new career.
“I come from the maritime industry, working on Sydney Harbour. I worked there on the harbour for 10 years and I loved every minute of it, but hospitality has always been a thing for me. Even at work I was putting on shows with the boys up in the lunch room, cooking up sandwiches, steaks, a barbecue,” Nick says. “I love to entertain, I love to serve, so coming into hospitality here was just natural for me; it feels as though I’ve had 10 shops before, which is a blessing.”
‘Here’ is Ramsgate Beach where Nicky B’s opened in March 2025 after the build commenced in September 2024. “The sandwich bar idea came from when I was in Greece last year. I’d been going to Greece the last six years in a row and everywhere we travelled we’d see these beautiful, big, extravagant deli sandwiches and the way that they make them there, with the love and the passion, and I decided when I got back from Europe last year that I’d have a look into doing it here. I had an opportunity that I could not turn down and here we are,” Nick explains.
“The main source of food we give out here, the main ingredient that is on the top of the list of every sandwich that goes out here, is love. Here at Nicky B’s, if the love and the passion isn’t in the food I won’t send it out… that’s the most important flavour. Yes, you can put ingredients in something, but if somebody makes something out of anger, you’ll taste it,” Nick says. “I tell my staff, more important than the ingredients is that you come in here with a good mindset. If you’ve brought something [a mood] from home, the food will taste like that. Our food needs to be made with love and people will taste it. Ingredients are one thing but where it comes from, the root inside, that’s another.”
Nicky B’s make all of their sauces in-house and Nick renders his own beef tallow; they don’t use seed oils in their cooking. “It’s important to know that eating healthy and eating right isn’t hard; you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to make a good sandwich. Just stick to the basics, listen to the people and what the people love, don’t try re invent the wheel and everything will be alright ! Unfortunately, people add and do too much to draw people in when it’s simple.
