Where are they now: ‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 runner-up Matt Sinclair flourishes into a successful food truck owner
It’s only been two months since Matt Sinclair landed on second place in “MasterChef Australia” 2016, but the former coffee roaster is already making his food dreams come true.
The 27-year-old budding chef recently opened his own food truck, called Ten Piece Cutlery, alongside his business partner Moe Rickard. Moe is a fully qualified chef of 16 years who has worked with many different cuisines and has spent time cooking in Asia. Parked at Hamilton’s Eat Street Markets, their food truck serves flavourful, delectable Asian-inspired street food every weekend.
Owning a food truck has always been Matt’s dream, and he experienced working on one while competing in “MasterChef Australia.” [READ: “Prawn’s ‘poo vein’ puts Brett, Harry and Mimi on the chopping block”] After ending up as the runner-up in the culinary competition, Matt headed to Wood Fire Grill at Noosa, where he trained for the past few months.
Matt's personal Instagram account is filled with updates on Ten Piece Cutlery, from its beginnings, to its launch and now, to its current success. In one Instagram post, Matt posted a photo of him eating heartily with his wife, Jess. He captioned the image, “Never let anyone tell you that [your] dreams aren’t big enough… if they mean something to you, chase them!!”
Ten Piece Cutlery has been receiving rave reviews from punters who take time to rate the food truck on its official Facebook page. The stall’s menu includes tamarind glazed beef brisket served on vermicelli noodles and lemongrass nam pla ($14), tempura softshell crab taco with gochu mayo and green papaya slaw ($14) and salt-and-pepper whiting sliders with sesame aioli, pickled cucumber and soy-chilli caramel ($13).
“MasterChef Australia” judge Gary Mehigan commented on Matt’s Instagram post about the food truck’s menu. Gary wrote, “Looks and sounds delicious…!” Matt’s former contenders also showed their support, including Theresa Visintin. She wrote, “Nice Matt!!! Must be a wonderful whirlwind you are on post MC, so happy to see @sinkachich being able to enjoy this part of the ride with you!! Well done, you deserve it!” Nathaniel Milevskiy and Chloe Bowles, on the other hand, congratulated Matt and promised to visit his food truck soon.
Matt was named runner-up of “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 and took home $40,000 cash prize. He fell a couple of points behind the competition's winner, 32-year-old teacher Elena Duggan, who beat him during a three-round grand finale.
