On July 23rd, the Masterchef finale aired, where the youngest contestant in the history of the show won the title. Larissa Takchi, of Lebanese background, had the highest scores over Tessa Boersma and Simon Toohey in the final difficult task of creating a three course meal in 4 and a half hours for a 20 person guest list.
At the age of 22, Larissa is one of the youngest contestants to win Masterchef and she managed to impress the judges with her unique combination of ingredients across her time in Masterchef. She managed to take home $250,000 in grand finale prize money regardless of her age. Larissa worked in her family’s restaurant as a front of house manager in Sydney, so she is no stranger to working in a restaurant. Although she admits that it doesn’t assist with her cooking knowledge, “I think people might make that assumption that I would have that experience, but to be honest I have no connection with the food. I was only serving it to customers, that’s as far as I get with the food connection,” she told news.com.au.
The Masterchef finale 2019, aired on Tuesday 23 July, saw the youngest contestant in the history of the show take out the coveted title that would set them up for a bright future in the restaurant industry. Larissa Takchi, of Lebanese background, topped the scores ahead of Tessa Boersma and Simon Toohey in the grand finale’s gruelling task of creating a three course meal in 4 and a half hours to 20 person all-star guest list of MasterChef alumni and top chefs.
Larissa was praised for her ability to back herself, an attitude that pays off for her, whilst also playing a strategic game to get herself to the top. The judges have commend her performance in the reality cooking show, Gary Mehigan said “Larissa was a deserved winner, showing determination, inventiveness and maturity”. “We are all convinced that she will do brilliantly well and can’t wait to see what she does next,” he added. Larissa praises the role the judges had to play in her development and her rise to success, “The judges are amazing on the show, they make the show, they made me the person I am today — without them three on the show, not just George, but Gary and Matt,” she said, praising George as an “absolutely amazing” mentor, but actually working with them everyday you see how passionate they are about it. They want to help you, they want to watch you grow”. So what now for the young winner?. “What I want to do is buy a block of land in Dural – which is where I’m from – and build a farm and restaurant on it, so diners can really experience farm-to-table dining,” she said to Delicious magazine. “I want it to be a destination restaurant, where you can tour the farm and garden and see where the food actually comes from. I also want to teach people how to grow their own food and lead a more sustainable life. I know it’s a very ambitious goal and it will take a long time and a lot of money, so the $250,000 will definitely help.”
