Master Chef: Passion on a plate

Chef Colin Fassnidge is a household name in Australia, due to his appearances on the Australian versions of ‘MasterChef’ and ‘My Kitchen Rules’ and he has been dubbed ‘the Irish Gordon Ramsay’.

But Colin, who spent his early childhood in Old Bawn in Tallaght, said that appearing on TV feels like a completely different career, and his passion still lies in whipping up a storm in restaurant kitchens.

The award-winning chef trained in DIT Cathal Brugha Street, before decamping to Sydney in the 1990s and building his culinary career with a collection of successful restaurant ventures in Oz.

Colin is briefly back in Ireland and he spoke to The Echo over the phone from Kerry, where he enthused about local cheeses and enjoying eating Irish lamb and beef again.

He detailed how his career started as a pot washer at the Dublin Horse Show, and his experiences of being trained by award-winning chefs before heading to Australia and seeing his career soar.

When did you realise you wanted to be a chef?

I was probably around 10 or 12. My family was a very big cooking family, my mam and dad cooked, so it was seen as something loveable rather than a chore.

You started your culinary career as a pot washer at the Dublin Horse Show. Is there anything you took away from this experience that you’ve carried with you through your career?

Most people who work as chefs start as pot washers, it’s a gateway into the industry.

Then you get interested in it and you want to do more stuff, like being a commis chef. It’s a good start in the industry.

What I learned from it is that everyone has their place in the kitchen, and it doesn’t matter how high up you are.

You went on to be trained by award-winning chefs Kevin Thornton and Raymond Blanc. What were these experiences like for you, and did they cement your resolve to be a professional chef?

I worked for Kevin Thornton, he was my lecturer in Cathal Brugha and he ran a Michelin-starred restaurant called Thorntons.

I worked with him for two years, and he said if I stayed with him he’d get a job with Raymond Blanc.

So then I went over to Raymond Blanc. It was very hard, and very regimented, but you learned your craft.

You moved to Sydney in the 1990s and later went on to set up your restaurant 4Fourteen, which re-imagined family meals you had in your youth. Why did you decide to bring a taste of home to Sydney in this way, and what response did it get?

I sort of made my name in a pub called Four in Hand. We won awards and then with the money from that we opened 4Fourteen.

I’d been in San Francisco and had seen the way food was going there. 4Fourteen was just about sharing and connection, so I tried to bring it back to basics.

We used to do suckling pig shoulders and seasonal veg and have it in the middle of the table to be shared.

You’ve starred in the Australian versions of ‘MasterChef’ and as a judge on ‘My Kitchen Rules’, and you’re set to appear on ‘Kitchen Nightmares’. Did you always plan to be a TV chef?

No, I used to slag them off – I used to say, ‘I’m a real chef, not a TV chef’! But it’s not easy to do, it’s another career.

You’re currently back in Ireland for a few weeks. How does being back here compare to being in Australia, where you’re easily recognisable and a household name?

I always wear a baseball cap when I’m in Sydney! But it’s good. A good few people around here know me, because a lot of people watch those shows over here now too, but it just means people are watching it, and without them there wouldn’t be a show. It’s like they’re shareholders!

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to train as a chef?

Be more skill-orientated. When I was training in college, I worked in restaurants for free just to learn.

I had paid jobs in restaurants too, but I’d go into others on my days off to work for free and learn more.

And they should go to college and get their piece of paper and travel the world. Being a chef is the best ticket to travel the world.

And you need to make sure you have a passion for being a chef. Otherwise, the industry will grind you down.

For further information, visit Colin Fassnidge’s website.