A dream realised

Melbourne sisters Vikki and Helena Moursellas are still “twinning”. Just 12 months after they made the MKR semifinals, the 26-year-olds are set to open up their own restaurant.

The vivacious pair, whose long-running rivalry with WA’s Chloe James and Kelly Ramsay caught viewers’ imaginations, will cook modern Australian cuisine with a Greek twist when Two Folds opens this month at the Civic Hotel in Sydney’s busy Pitt Street.

“We’ve done very well since we left the show,” Vikki said. “We’ve published our own cookbook — Taking You Home — which we’re told by the publishers is selling well. It’s simple Greek food with recipes that are not too complicated — you’re guaranteed to have all the ingredients at home.”

The Civic Hotel seemed the ideal starting point for the girls — they have taken over from mother-and-son team Peter and Eleni Conistis, who put Greek cuisine at the forefront of the Civic’s menu.

“Our dream was always to open up our own restaurant, even before we started on the show. If it wasn’t for MKR, we wouldn’t be here — it opened up a million doors for us and we’re so grateful,” Vikki said. “We’re quite determined and we didn’t want to go back to our old jobs, so we’ve been working really hard to reach our goals.”

The newly slim twins, who lost 21kg between them after ditching their serious chocolate habit of one big block a night during filming, have more projects in the pipeline. They plan to release a second cookbook and a web series on YouTube.

But they are also hoping they might get a call-back to the series that gave them their big break.

“We’re waiting for our chance to appear on an all-stars series,” Helena joked.

“We’d like to get back on TV — that’s our plan. We think an all-stars special would be great TV.”

In the meantime, the twins, whose catchcry “we’ve got this” won them both admirers and detractors on the show, will continue to work hard.

“Anyone who thinks going on a reality cooking show is all fun and games should think again,” Helena said.

“It’s bloody hard work and it doesn’t stop when you leave. Vikki and I have worked our butts off.”