- Matt Preston
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Matt Preston Born 1961
London, England, United KingdomOccupation Food journalist, critic Known for MasterChef Australia judge Spouse Emma Preston Children 3 children Website http://www.mattpreston.com.au/
Matt Preston (born in 1961 in London, United Kingdom) is a British-Australian food journalist and restaurant critic. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's MasterChef Australia and his weekly food column in the Herald Sun 'Taste' supplement. Preston is also a writer for MasterChef and Delicious magazines as well as the former columnist for The Age newspaper’s food section, "Epicure" and Vogue Entertaining + Travel. Preston was the Creative Director of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.[1] until 2009.Contents
Biography
Preston was educated in Sussex and graduated from the University of Kent with a BA Hons in Politics and Government. He began his career in the sales and marketing departments of British magazines, including City Limits where for five years he wrote the "Backhanders" column. Preston then spent four years with UK magazines, TVTimes and What’s on TV, becoming the head of promotions and marketing. [2] He continued to work for these publications after moving to Australia in 1993, as an Australian soap opera correspondent.
Preston also works as a regular food correspondent in a number of publications, including Taste, a supplement in the Herald Sun, MasterChef Magazine, Delicious (Senior Editor), Australian Good Taste as the drink reviewer, The Guardian newspaper (UK) and Time Out (London). Preston was a weekly contributor to Epicure between 2000 and 2009, writing a weekly review of a cafe or restaurant. He also wrote a weekly column in The Age's A2 and was a senior editor at Vogue Entertaining & Travel. Preston has made many appearances on Australian radio.
Masterchef
In 2009, Preston joined Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris on the judging panel of the first season of MasterChef Australia (Network 10), a reality television competition to find Australia’s best amateur chef. Preston says that his favourite part of MasterChef Australia is ‘the joy that comes from the contestants delivering us a delicious dish that’s a pleasure to eat’. Preston has gone on to judge two more series of MasterChef Australia (2010,2011) and is rumoured to be involved with the fourth.
Personal life
Preston married his wife Emma, in 1999 and the couple have three children [3] A football fan, Preston Chelsea FC and Melbourne Victory.
His biggest cooking triumphs are: "The national award I've won for my jam recipes and cooking a BBQ for 1,000 people at the Noosa Food and Wine Festival with some volunteers and chef mates.[4] His favourite inspirational cooking quote: "It's not the food on the table but the eyes across the table that matter" - Robert Castellani, chef at Melbourne's Donovan's restaurant. [5]
Books
Preston's book Cravat-A-Licious, a collection of food writing, launched on 1 October 2009.[6] He is a contributor to Food and Wine (US) and has previously contributed to The Age Good Food Guide.
Accolades
Preston has won a number of awards, both individually and as the leader of an organisation, including:
- 2003 Food Media Club of Australia Grand Marnier Award for Best New Writer Winner: Matt Preston for articles published in the Epicure section of The Age.
- 2004 Food Media Club of Australia Australian Mushroom Growers’ Award Best Food Article Winner: Matt Preston for “The Temple Kitchen”, Epicure, The Age.
- 2006 Food Media Club of Australia Calypso Mango Award for Best Recipe Feature in a Newspaper or Newspaper Magazine Winner: Matt Preston for “Preserving knowledge”, Epicure, The Age.
- 2008 Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards, Food Journalist of the Year for articles in Delicious Magazine and the Epicure section of The Age. .[7]
- 2010 The Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent (Male)
- 2011 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Winner – Awesome Oldie [8]
- Preston appears in Who's Who in Australia 2011 edition.[9]
Notes
- ^ "Does Blumenthal smell of Caramel, Matt Preston, Epicure, The Age, 9 April 2009"
- ^ Matt Preston Speaker Biography
- ^ Wendy Squires (23 September 2009). "Matt the cravat". The Australian Women's Weekly. ninemsn. http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/news/inthemag/866186/matt-the-cravat. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
- ^ "Eye on the Prize", The Guide, Herald Sun, 3 June 2009"
- ^ "Eye on the Prize", The Guide, Herald Sun, 3 June 2009"
- ^ "Cravat-A-Licious, Matt Preston, Random House, 10 October 2009"
- ^ "The hottest dish at Icebergs", Sunday Telegraph, 5 July 2009"
- ^ Australian Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2011 Winners List [1]
- ^ "Who's Who pack now boasts Siddle, Hamish and Andy and the Masterchef judges". heraldsun.com.au. 9 December 2010. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/whos-who-pack-now-boasts-siddle-hamish-and-andy-and-the-masterchef-judges/story-e6frf7jx-1225968131634.
External links
MasterChef Australia Seasons Winners Julie Goodwin · Adam Liaw · Kate BracksRunners-up Poh Ling Yeow · Callum Hann · Michael WeldonCelebrity edition Seasons2009WinnersRunners-upJunior edition Seasons2010 · 2011WinnersIsabella BlissRunners-upJack LarkStarring George Calombaris · Gary Mehigan · Matt Preston · Matt Moran · Donna Hay (2010) · Anna Gare (Junior) · Sarah Wilson (2009)Notable alumni Related articles Categories:- 1961 births
- Living people
- British television presenters
- British television personalities
- British expatriates in Australia
- British food writers
- Restaurant critics
- MasterChef Australia
- People educated at Worth School
- Alumni of the University of Kent
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
