Judges
Chef Mark Normoyle
With an impressive career spanning 35 years running restaurant operations for five-star hotels and RACV's Melbourne City Club, as well as being the former president of Les Toques Blanches Executive Chefs association and Wagyu ambassador for Japan's Gifu prefecture and Yuzu ambassador for Kochi, Japan. Mark Normoyle's insights and experience in the culinary field is highly respected and sought after.
From an award-winning chef, Mark has expanded his horizons, becoming a food tour host and in recent years, becoming a guest chef for several prolific events. One such event was to host a challenge in Australia with original Japanese Iron Chefs Hiroyuki Sakai (Iron Chef French) and Kenichi Chen (Iron Chef Chinese). The Japanese Tourism Board sponsored event was a success with Mark earning the title of Iron Chef Australia. Mark has since been invited to appear at numerous events with the other original Iron Chefs at Tokyo Disneyland, The Sydney Opera House, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Rockhampton. In recent years Mark was Executive Chef and owner of Luna's Food and Wine Bar on the Esplanade in St Kilda, is currently consulting in Australia Asia and beyond and is the National Executive Chef for Anchor Food Professionals Oceania and Chef Mentor for The Proud to be a chef program that is the Southern Hemispheres largest up and coming chef mentoring program.
Mark's Winning Tip:
A winning dish is one that combines flavour, colour and texture. Adding authentic Asian spices or sauces to your cooking is a great, affordable way to boost the flavours of your dishes. First time using these ingredients? Mark's pro tip is to weigh all ingredients to build your own base recipe, then adjust the portions incrementally to improve the flavours.
Chef Mod Pittayarat
Chef Mod was the head chef and manager of the Chili Padi restaurant in Melbourne. Then a sous chef for the Marriot Hotel in Bangkok, and now has his own catering business in Australia, wherein he personally cooks for you at your home, combining traditional Thai with modern culinary methods. Also, he is a recipe development chef at OMI Group Australia. He is an expert in the various Thai regional flavours. Chef Mod is also a regular on Channel 10’s My Market Kitchen and The Cook’s Pantry.
Mod's Winning Tip:
For Mod, his idea of a winning dish is to keep it simple! It needs to strike a balance between all flavours. At the end of the day, Mod believes that there are no strict rules about incorporating Asian flavours into your cooking, so long as it makes you happy.
Chef Masa
Regular viewers of Channel 10’s My Market Kitchen, would undoubtedly recognize Chef Masa. He has been on the popular TV cooking show from 2019 to 2022, with many authentic, delectable Japanese recipes. For Masa, cooking is an ever-lasting tradition that brings joy, and embodies the soul of Japanese culture. He is currently the senior chef at Wasshoi Beer x Sake x Sumibi in Melbourne’s Prahran market.
Masa's Winning Tip:
Colour is always important when plating up a dish. A balanced-out colour allows each component to be visible resulting in clear outlines and even textures. Also, placing the components in the centre of the plate, bowl or glass creates a neater and cleaner presentation. Size of the plate/bowl/glass needs to be chosen carefully to match the serving size so it doesn’t seem too full or less.
