Convert your kitchen skills to TV GOLD!

Kicking things off is Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson (albeit New Zealand-born, though now Australia-based). Known for wearing colourful braces, Huey had a history as a restaurateur in Melbourne, before his TV work on Ten, from Healthy, Wealthy and Wise in the nineties to his current role on Huey’s Cooking Adventures.

Fifth-generation Chinese-Australian Kylie Kwong blended traditional fare with modern Australian cuisine on Kylie Kwong: Heart & Soul, airing on the ABC and pay TV. Kwong worked for Neil Perry, before opening Sydney restaurant Billy Kwong with Bill Granger.
Perry himself has hosted several programmes for the LifeStyle Channel, including currently Neil Perry Fresh & Fast. He also appeared on Nine foodie show Fresh. He has the successful Rockpool restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Asian eatery Spice Temple in Sydney. He also has a supermarket range, Neil Perry Fresh.
WA chef Aristos Papandroulakis graced Aussie TV screens as the host of Seven’s Surprise Chef in the early nineties. The premise? Surprising supermarket shoppers by offering to prepare a gourmet meal from whatever they had in their trolley. He’s also the name behind the Aristos Waterfront Rottnest eatery.
Ten’s MasterChef is not a TV debut for George Calombaris. Previously, he had regular spots on Ten’s Ready Steady Cook. Calombaris owns restaurants in Melbourne (the flagship being The Press Club), as well as an eatery in Greece. It’s no surprise that his Greek-Cypriot heritage often influences what he plates up.
MasterChef cohort Gary Mehigan’s chef career began with training in London, before moving to Melbourne and opening restaurants of his own. Prior to his TV judging role, he regularly appeared on Ten’s Ready Steady Cook. He also co-hosts two shows on LifeStyle FOOD, Good Chef/Bad Chef and Boy’s Weekend.
British-born Ben O’Donoghue worked as a chef in Perth, Sydney and the UK – including with Jamie Oliver – before becoming a co-host on LifeStyle FOOD’s The Best in Australia. He has also appeared on food shows in the US and UK, as well as co-hosting Aussie ABC food and travel show, Surfing The Menu, with Curtis Stone.
Blonde-haired Stone worked in restaurants in Australia and the UK before making his TV debut, including as a host of My Restaurant Rules and in regular spots on Ten’s MasterChef and The Biggest Loser. He has also made it to Oprah’s couch and was a candidate on Donald Trump’s The Celebrity Apprentice.
Pete Evans is one of the judges on Seven’s My Kitchen Rules. He’s behind the Hugo’s eateries in Sydney and has a raft of food shows under his belt, including FISH for the LifeStyle Channel and a one-hour doco cooking for Princess Mary and members of the Danish royalty. Ooh-er!
Also from My Kitchen Rules is sexy, French-born chef Manu Feildel. Before the show though, he had spots on Ten’s Ready Steady Cook and MasterChef Feildel also has his own eatery, L’Etoile, in Sydney – French, of course!

TV before food
For these foodies, television instead inspired their passion for cuisine:

Bernard King’s career as a celebrity chef began almost accidentally. Formerly a teacher, he hosted a dinner party in Brisbane, in which one of the attendees was ABC TV presenter Maureen Kissell. She was so impressed with his fare that she invited him to do a cooking demo on her show. That led to the late chef eventually hosting his own foodie show, King’s Kitchen.
Queensland-born Peter Everett, the host of Ten’s Ready Steady Cook, is no chef, though food is a passion. He’s actually an interior designer by trade and made his TV start on home reno show Changing Rooms.
London-born Matt Preston, a judge on Ten’s MasterChef, is a food journalist and restaurant critic. He’s just as famous for his colourful array of cravats.
Peter Russell-Clarke was the host of a five-minute cooking segment on the ABC during the ‘80s, Come and Get It. He started out though as a junior artist at an ad agency, before becoming a food consultant.

BISTRO, May 2010

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