Getting Ready for a Masterclass with Masterchef’s Gary Mehigan

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

Hosted by Tourism Victoria, Gary Mehigan will be
in Mumbai today to conduct a masterclass for
the media at the Grand Hyatt. Image:
Courtesy of Gary Mehigan's blog

I AM in a state of high excitement because I shall be spending a good part of the day with Gary Mehigan, co-host and judge of Masterchef Australia as well as Melbourne restaurateur, the series that is watched by more people in India than Down Under. Hosted by Tourism Victoria, which naturally would want to showcase the culinary wealth of Melbourne, Gary will conduct a masterclass for the media at Celini, the Italian restaurant at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, and then serve lunch to invited guests. Victoria’s Tourism Minister Louise Asher will also be present at the event to showcase her state and its many attractions.

Last year, when Gary and George Calombaris came to Delhi, I spent a day with them, first at a farmhouse cookout, where India’s most famous Aussie, Bill Marchetti, presided over the suckling pig, and then as the host of an appearance they made for their publishers, Penguin Books, at the Landmark at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. They’re easy to get along with and very professional — and they were surprised as their celebrity status in India. “We are learning to get used to it,” Gary had said to me. Well, I am looking forward to another day of seeing Gary get mobbed by women and children, who are his biggest fan, in one of Mumbai’s finest restaurants.