By Benjamin Millar
Footscray’s bustling market and multicultural eateries have been the secret ingredient behind one MasterChef Australia finalist’s tilt at a series win.
Simon Toohey, a Footscray resident who has cooked his way to the final five contestants on the hit Network 10 show, waxes lyrical about the foodie delights scattered throughout his adopted home suburb.
“I say Footscray has the best food in Melbourne. You can get the best pho in town or have the most amazing Ethiopian as well,” he said.
“Or you can go to a place like Lay Low and have the most amazing cocktails, then there’s an amazing kebab shop right next to it.
“But nothing beats going to the markets in the morning, grabbing a banh mi and walking through – the variety of the food and produce is unbelievable.”
Mr Toohey, 32, has drawn on his hospitality experience in surviving the challenges that have whittled down the MasterChef Australia contestants to the final five.
He cut his teeth as a cocktail barman in London, taking out the titles of best cocktail menu and best high volume cocktail bar at the Tales of the Cocktail awards in New Orleans.
While he enjoyed the alchemy of cocktail creation there was one thing missing – texture.
“I started craving solids, a tactile element,” he said.
In a bid to add some crunch to his repertoire, Mr Toohey headed to Edinburgh and began his quest for a Masters in Gastronomy from Queen Margaret University.
He said the knowledge he picked up during that time, combined with the ability to think quickly on his feet gained behind the bar, has been useful in making snap decisions in the Masterchef Australia kitchen.
“You don’t get half a day to think about what you’re going to cook,” Mr Toohey said.
“You don’t get much time at all between when they tell you what the challenge is and when you have to decide what to do.”
Mr Toohey said Wednesday night’s challenge – hitting the kitchen of Masterchef judge George Calombaris’s Press Club for the restaurant’s final service – was high pressure but also “pretty exciting”.
“It was his baby so it was an honour. It’s such a small kitchen, your communication has to be amazing and you have to squeeze your body in.”
Wherever he finishes in this week’s finals challenge, Mr Toohey has his partner Georgie to thank for appearing on the show at all.
“It was my partner’s idea. I’ve always loved watching MasterChef and wanted to be in the food industry. My partner Georgie said ‘you are doing it, so we sat down and applied. I’m really grateful to her.”
The Masterchef Australia finals screen on Network 10 from 7.30pm Wednesday, Sunday and Monday.
After two contestants are eliminated on Sunday and Monday, the top three will compete in the grand finale, screening 7.30pm next Tuesday.
