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| Matt
Preston Biography |
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| Internationally acclaimed and revered food critic Matt
Preston was (born in 1961 in London, United Kingdom) is a food
journalist and restaurant critic. Best known for his role as a judge on
Network Ten's MasterChef Australia and his weekly food column in the
'Taste' supplement that is published in the Herald Sun, Daily
Telegraph, Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser, The Mercury and WA's
Sunday Times newspapers. Formerly the author of a restaurant column in
The Age newspaper’s food section, "Epicure", Preston is also a writer
for MasterChef Magazine and Delicious magazines, a former writer for
Vogue Entertaining + Travel and former Creative Director of the
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Schooling Preston was educated at St Phillips Preparatory School in London and Worth Abbey 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 he wrote the "Backhanders" column for five years. He then spent four years with UK magazines, TVTimes and What’s on TV, becoming head of their promotions and marketing department. In 1993, Preston moved to Australia where he worked as an Australian soap opera correspondent for British magazines What’s On TV, TVTimes and Women’s Own. Preston is a regular food correspondent on 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. In 2003, 2004 and 2006, Preston won Food Media Club of Australia awards for articles that appeared in the "Epicure" section of The Age, and in 2008 he won the Food Journalist of the Year Award at the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards, for articles published in delicious and "Epicure". Previous positions include five years as the National Chief Judge for Restaurant and Catering's National Awards for Excellence. On 9 April 2010, Preston was nominated 'Best Restaurant Critic' at the World Food Media Awards which will be announced on 3 May. Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Preston was the Creative Director of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival for five years from 2005–2009. He concluded his tenure as creative director of the Festival on 8 April 2009. Radio Preston has been a guest many times on radio including on Denis Walter's show on 3AW, and on 774 ABC Melbourne. He has also co-hosted a number of times including with Fifi Box on Melbourne's Fox FM and Lindy Burns on ABC774. During the first season of MasterChef Australia he made a number of radio appearances to promote the show including Nova 100, Vega (Sydney) with Tony, Mikey and Bec, Vega (Melbourne) with Dicko, Dave and Chrissie, WSHF with Amanda and Jonesy, Mix (Sydney) with Todd and Sonia, ABC774 with Richard Stubbs, Gold FM with Grubby and Dee and FM breakfast shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. He also has appeared on the Hamish and Andy radio show. Television Preston has appeared on Network 10's 9am with David and Kim, SBS’s Lonely Planet Blue List Australia, Channel 9's Postcards, and Channel 7's Absolutely Melbourne. He was also the "secret reviewer" on series one of Channel 7’s My Restaurant Rules. In 2009 Preston joined Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris on the judging panel of the first season of MasterChef Australia, a reality television competition to find Australia's best amateur chef. He says that his favourite part of being on MasterChef Australia is "the joy that comes from the contestants delivering us a delicious dish that’s a pleasure to eat." Preston was a guest on the Australian talk show Rove on 28 June 2009, the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on 27 July 2009, and the satirical news-based quiz show Good News Week on 2 November 2009. He was a guest panelist on Network Ten's Before the Game on 1 August and The 7pm Project on 4 August 2009. Preston has been parodied twice on The Chaser's War on Everything, most recently on 24 June 2009, and also on Channel Nine's The Footy Show on 24 July 2009 and has also made appearances on SBS's historic quiz show AD/BC (on 27 August 2009) and the ABC's First Tuesday Book Club (on 1 September 2009). He reprised his judging role on Celebrity MasterChef Australia, a series aired in late 2009 and won by Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan. Preston is currently filming series two of MasterChef Australia which began airing on Network Ten on 19 April 2010. He will also judge the first season of Junior MasterChef Australia, due to air in Australia in late 2010. At the 2010 Logie Awards Preston won the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent Male and was nominated for Most Popular New Talent Male. Books Preston's book Cravat-A-Licious, a collection of food writing, launched on 1 October 2009. 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: • 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. • 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. • 2004 Food Media Club of Australia Australian Mushroom Growers’ Award Best Food Article Winner: Matt Preston for “The Temple Kitchen”, Epicure, The Age. • 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. |
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MASTERCHEF Judge Matt Preston is in Negotiations to Make his Mark as Host of a TV Talk Show. | ||||||||||
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