Preston loves WA food culture

TV personality and food critic Matt Preston credits Perth’s isolation as the reason for its booming food culture.

“The first time I came here I remember getting this real sense that one of Perth’s real strengths was its isolation,” Preston toldAccess All Areas .

“People did their own thing here, they weren’t all slaves and following other cities. I’m a big fan of those smaller operators.”

The cravat-wearing MasterChef judge has just jetted to Perth for the first time this year, armed with a list of new restaurants, cafes and watering holes to try. Preston has eaten in WA countless times, speaking highly of many eateries such as Bread in Common and Eamon Sullivan’s Bib & Tucker, but he’s always on the lookout for new places to treat his palate.

“I’m a writer and a journalist fundamentally, so I’m always obsessing with the new,” he explained, sipping an aperol spritz from a booth in the new Shadow Wine Bar in Northbridge.

“The exciting stuff for me is always the small places. I don’t want to go to chain restaurants, it seems a bit pointless and soulless.”

Tying in with his appreciation of Perth’s food scene, Preston said the WA contestants on this season of Ten’s MasterChef, Sara Oteri and Jessica Arnott, were brilliant.

“Sara has got bags of spunk and attitude in a good way and she plates just beautifully,” Preston enthused. “Then there’s Jess, who’s not shy about flavour. She’s probably in the top three of being able to put flavour in a dish, everything’s so big and bold.”

While MasterChef is in its seventh season, Preston said the show felt rejuvenated this year by going back to original roots: ordinary people cooking extraordinary food.

“There are challenges but you don’t need to do that producer-pressure stuff, it’s mean,” Preston said.

“We’ve relaxed this year and had more fun. We were stressing last year because season five didn’t do too well, so last year was a roll of the dice, it could have easily been bye bye MasterChef. But by bringing the show back to what it’s about — all these people came back.”