#masterchef dining

By Greedy Financier

I love watching MasterChef. Even after 4 seasons of MasterChef (not including the All Stars), I still haven’t gotten sick of watching the contestants cook on my TV screen (and now that the season is over, I think I’m suffering withdrawal symptoms). Almost every episode, I salivate over the dishes the contestants cook, and wish that I could taste what they serve up to the judges – and then that dream came true – well nearly. As many of you would know, MasterChef set up a pop-up restaurant and bar in Sydney over 3 weeks in July – which gave MasterChef fans and foodies the opportunity to actually sample the contestant’s food.

MasterChef Dining Pop-up Restaurant and Bar in Sydney

Every night there were different MasterChef contestants and “professional” chef’s guest starring at the restaurant, and I chose to attend Justine Schofield (from season 1) and Vincent Gadan’s (pastry chef from Patisse) sitting.

Justine Schofield and Vincent Gadan giving an Introductory Speech

The menu they presented gave us a choice of dishes for each of the 3 courses on offer, plus an additional cheese course. Dishes included previous MasterChef contestant dishes, as well as the “professional” chef’s dishes.

MasterChef Dining Menu

I decided to start with Callum’s (from season 2) tuna tataki entrée. The tuna was seared perfectly on the outside and sat on a bed of refreshing shredded cucumber. It was accompanied with wasabi avocado, which unfortunately I found a bit too overwhelming – it had a very strong hit of wasabi and the avocado was lost under all that fieriness.

Tuna Tataki with Wasabi Avocado

The bf started with Christine Manfield’s (from Universal Restaurant) squid salad. He thought while the squid was a tad undercooked, the dressing was outstanding.

Stir Fry Squid Salad

For the main course, I chose Chris and Julia’s (from season 1) beef cheeks with mash and gremolata. The beef cheeks were “fall apart” tender and lovely, and were complemented with a buttery mash. However the gremolata didn’t deliver the flavour punch I expected, and the entire dish was lacking seasoning.

Slow Braised Beef Cheeks with Mash and Gremolata

The bf went with Justine’s duck for mains. The duck was pink and cooked well, and paired with a delicious aigre douce sauce (French for sweet and sour!). The sauce had strong tones of orange, and had a good balance of sweet and sour. The only criticism was that there wasn’t enough sauce!

Seared Duck Breast with Aigre Douce Sauce

Onto my favourite part of any meal – dessert! I was really looking forward to eating Vincent Gadan’s chocolate and caramel tart! I have to say his tart was a pretty little thing – perfectly square, sitting right on the centre of the plate, and with not a single imperfection on the surface.

Valrhona Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart

And it was absolutely divine – an amazing chocolate pastry base sitting under an oozing salted caramel and topped with a luscious chocolate ganache. A small piece of macadamia praline added a crunch to the dish. The only downside was that it was very very rich for such a small tart, and perhaps a dollop of cream may have helped to cut through that richness and would have added another dimension.

The Tart Oozing with Salted Caramel Goodness!

The bf chose Chris and Julia’s Panna Cotta. The alcohol in the panna cotta was very prominent, and the rhubarb sauce quite bitter. However when the panna cotta and rhubarb were combined with the sweet praline, it all just came together wonderfully and worked really well.

Porter Stout Panna Cotta with Praline

We concluded the MasterChef dinner with an assortment of cheeses. I’m not usually one for cheese, but I did quite enjoy the soft creamy cheeses with the sweet strawberry and pinot jam.

Assortment of Cheeses – Goat’s Milk Cheese, Italian Wash Rind, Cheddar and Havarti Cheese with Crisp Bread, Grapes, Lavosh and Strawberry and Pinot Jam

All throughout the night, the guest chef’s were mingling with the diners (which made us question, who was cooking?). It was great to have the opportunity to not only take photos with them, but also have a chat about their dishes and the overall MasterChef Dining concept.

Vincent Gadan Mingling

I was pleased to hear that MasterChef Dining was quite successful and might possibly be a recurring event. I know I definitely will be back should it occur again next year!

MasterChef Australia