MasterChef Australia stars including Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow and Reynold Poernomo have turned television fame into major restaurant, retail and regional food businesses across the country.
Some of MasterChef Australia’s biggest names have been taking over city basements, suburban shopfronts, coastal dining rooms and regional tourism hot spots.
The TV cooking juggernaut has produced a national restaurant map stretching from Reynold Poernomo’s KOI Dessert Bar in Sydney and Melbourne to Matt Sinclair’s Sum Yung Guys in Noosa and Minoli De Silva’s Ella by Minoli in Darwin.
While some alumni have used their fame to secure prime CBD and high-street locations, others are shifting into regional towns, farm-backed ventures and lifestyle markets as city hospitality costs bite. See where some of your past faves are serving up delicious flavours near you.
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Andy Allen: Three Blue Ducks
MasterChef judge Andy Allen has built one of the show’s biggest commercial success stories through his role with the multistate Three Blue Ducks restaurant group.
Three Blue Ducks has expanded from its Sydney origins into a national hospitality footprint, with venues in major cities and regional dining destinations.
Where: Rosebery, Byron Bay, Melbourne, Brisbane and Burradoo
Andy Allen has built the strongest commercial property story of any MasterChef alumnus.
The Season 4 winner and current judge is a co-owner of Three Blue Ducks, which has expanded from its Sydney roots into a multistate venue network across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Its next major move is the clearest sign of where high-profile hospitality is heading with a farm-to-plate venture in Burradoo in the NSW Southern Highlands, with a restaurant, bakery and produce store integrated into a working farm.
That takes the brand beyond the standard restaurant lease model and into a hospitality footprint tied directly to land, produce and tourism.
Poh Ling Yeow: Jamface
MasterChef judge Poh Ling Yeow remains one of the franchise’s most recognisable names, with her Adelaide food brand Jamface benefiting from her profile.
Poh Ling Yeow’s Jamface shows how a smaller-format bakery and market-stall brand can still carry serious commercial power when backed by a loyal national fan base.
Where: Adelaide
The original MasterChef runner-up has gone from contestant to one of the show’s defining figures, returning to the franchise as a judge alongside Andy Allen, Sofia Levin and Jean-Christophe Novelli.
Her Adelaide venture Jamface might not have the sprawling footprint of Three Blue Ducks or KOI Dessert Bar, but it has something many larger hospitality brands would envy: a loyal fan base built over more than 15 years of television exposure.
Listed as an active Sunday bakery and market-stall venture, Jamface gives the national MasterChef property map a different kind of commercial lesson.
It shows that celebrity food power is not always about a huge CBD lease.
Sometimes the strongest retail asset is a smaller-format brand people will seek out because of the name behind it.
Reynold Poernomo: KOI Dessert Bar
Reynold Poernomo turned his MasterChef dessert fame into the KOI Dessert Bar brand, one of the most recognisable alumni food businesses in Australia. Picture: Gaye Gerard.
KOI Dessert Bar’s Sydney and Melbourne footprint shows how MasterChef fame can help drive customers into high-profile dessert retail sites.
Where: Chippendale, Ryde and Melbourne CBD
Reynold Poernomo’s KOI Dessert Bar is the result of the MasterChef favourite turning his dessert fame into a recognisable retail brand, with venues in Chippendale and Ryde in Sydney and an expansion into Melbourne’s CBD.
But the Melbourne move also exposed the pressure facing high-profile hospitality operators.
The company behind KOI Dessert Bar’s Melbourne operation, Poernomo Enterprise, entered voluntary administration in August 2025, with reports showing creditors were owed more than $1.6m.
The Queen St venue has continued trading during the administration process.
Matt Sinclair: Sum Yung Guys
MasterChef runner-up Matt Sinclair has helped make Sum Yung Guys in Noosaville one of Queensland’s strongest hospitality venues linked to the show. Picture: Channel 10.
Sum Yung Guys in Noosaville shows the power of regional tourism dining, with the Sunshine Coast venue becoming a major MasterChef-linked restaurant drawcard.
Where: Noosaville
Matt Sinclair’s Sum Yung Guys shows why regional hospitality has become so attractive for high-profile food operators.
The Season 8 runner-up co-founded the Noosaville restaurant, which has become one of Queensland’s strongest MasterChef-linked venues.
Rather than chasing a major capital-city lease, the business taps into Noosa’s tourism economy, local wealth and destination dining market.
It is the kind of regional footprint that can compete for national attention without taking on the same rent pressure as a CBD site.
Laura Sharrad: Fugazzi and Nido
MasterChef favourite Laura Sharrad has become one of Adelaide’s strongest alumni operators, with a two-venue CBD footprint built around Fugazzi and Nido. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe.
Fugazzi Bar & Dining Room has helped cement Laura and Max Sharrad’s presence in Adelaide’s CBD dining market.
Where: Adelaide CBD
Laura Sharrad has become one of Adelaide’s strongest MasterChef-linked commercial operators.
Alongside husband Max Sharrad, she operates Nido Bar & Pasta and Fugazzi Bar & Dining Room, giving the pair a serious two-venue footprint in the city’s dining scene.
Nido opened in 2019, while Fugazzi followed in 2021, turning Sharrad’s repeat MasterChef profile into a platform for long-term CBD hospitality.
Callum Hann: Lou’s Place, Olive and Roma
Callum Hann has built one of MasterChef’s most complete commercial food portfolios, spanning Adelaide restaurants, Barossa Valley dining and food education. Picture: Ben Clark
Callum Hann and Themis Chryssidis have grown Sprout from a cooking school into a broader food business connected to restaurants, education and hospitality.
Where: Barossa Valley and Adelaide CBD
Callum Hann has built one of the most complete food businesses to come out of MasterChef.
His restaurant portfolio includes Lou’s Place in the Barossa Valley, plus Olive and Roma in Adelaide.
That gives Hann a commercial spread across both destination wine country and the Adelaide CBD.
Beyond the restaurants, his Sprout cooking school and food education ventures mean the business is not relying on one dining room or one lease.
Khanh Ong: The George on Collins
Khanh Ong’s role with The George on Collins shows how MasterChef alumni can become powerful creative anchors for major CBD hospitality venues.
The George on Collins occupies a major Melbourne CBD basement site and has used Khanh Ong’s profile to sharpen its food and brand identity. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw
Where: Melbourne CBD
Khanh Ong’s role at The George on Collins shows how MasterChef fame can be used to help anchor a large-format city venue.
The Melbourne CBD basement restaurant has used Ong as a creative and marketing force, pairing a recognisable television name with an established central-city hospitality address.
It is a lower-risk model for the celebrity chef than opening a stand-alone restaurant, while giving the venue a clearer identity in a crowded CBD market.
Minoli De Silva: Ella by Minoli
Minoli De Silva has turned MasterChef exposure into a Darwin dining drawcard through her restaurant Ella by Minoli. Picture: Amanda Parkinson.
Ella by Minoli has helped put Darwin on the MasterChef alumni restaurant map, with the CBD venue adding star power to the Northern Territory dining scene. Picture: Amanda Parkinson.
Where: Darwin CBD
Minoli De Silva has used MasterChef exposure to help build one of Darwin’s standout dining brands.
Ella by Minoli brings the former contestant’s Sri Lankan food profile into the Northern Territory capital, adding a high-recognition chef name to a market that has fewer celebrity-led venues than Sydney or Melbourne.
The venue is also proof that MasterChef’s commercial influence is not limited to the east coast capitals.
Sarah Tiong and Rashedul Hasan: OGNI
OGNI in Surry Hills shows how MasterChef alumni can use television recognition to stand out in one of Sydney’s toughest hospitality markets. Picture: Channel 10.
Sarah Tiong and Rashedul Hasan have built one of Sydney’s strongest MasterChef-linked venues with OGNI in Surry Hills.
Where: Surry Hills
Sarah Tiong and Rashedul Hasan launched OGNI in Surry Hills, one of Sydney’s toughest restaurant markets.
The pair have built a venue with critical recognition in a suburb where hospitality competition is intense.
For landlords and commercial agents, the appeal of that model is obvious: a known television hook can give a venue a stronger launch platform, but it still needs a serious offer to survive.
Mindy Woods: Karkalla
Mindy Woods has built Karkalla in Byron Bay into a regional dining venue with a strong cultural and commercial identity.
Karkalla in Byron Bay shows the strength of hospitality concepts tied closely to place, culture and regional tourism.
Where: Byron Bay
Mindy Woods’ Karkalla adds one of the strongest regional stories in the MasterChef alumni network.
The Byron Bay restaurant is both a commercial dining venue and a cultural education platform, built around Indigenous ingredients and a strong connection to place.
It shows how hospitality concepts tied closely to their location can become more powerful than generic venues that could sit on any strip in the country.
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