Okay.

I think that's such a beautiful part of my job.

You know, I, I grew up in a country town.

You know, we had a local Chinese.

Like, my parents took me to Sizzler for my 21st birthday, so-

And-

Um, in Burradoo.

It's a amazing, amazing, uh, operation.

Mm

... you're leaving your job as well, um, all to kinda move to Melbourne.

They get put up in apartments, and for that five and a half months, it's literally your life.

Um, so it can get really intense.

Um, you've, you've, you've gotta take every opportunity as a learning opportunity, but you've also just gotta be able to, to trust the process, you know? And, and really just focus on, on what that process is for five and a half months 'cause as I said, it can be, it can be so grueling to-

Yes.

Um, we've been really lucky ... we've been lucky enough to, to take over a beautiful project down there, which is on 600 acres of farmland.

Um, and, you know, the word paddock to plate is thrown around these days.

That was something different.

Yeah, it was.

Um, it was actually a bit of a amazing sub-in for me, because I was, uh, off having a baby with my wife.

I don't know if you've given it a go, but have, have you got, um, a weird food combination you enjoy yourself?

No, I think the weirdest one which has come full circle is, like, I used to be a massive dip my fries into my soft serve.

But what makes you bring the sandwich shop from Florence right here in the heart of Sydney?

How good it is, basically.

I mean, and there's so many Italians in Italy.

There's so many people that love the brand worldwide.

We thought, bloody hell, we're going to sell some sandwiches.

So pumped that we're actually here because it's been two years in the making and it has had.

We haven't even opened the doors and the reception's off the charts.

She wants you to describe why it is so good compared to other shops.

Is that how you were thinking about it? Or do you disagree and you're like, no, everybody should be pushing more and more sound design that your phone is always making sounds better? I think

sound design is just not done very well.

I mean, I think that's part of it.

It's not prioritized almost by anybody, right? It's almost nobody does it.

Everyone's kind of written it off and said everybody mutes their phones anyways and nobody wants to, you know.

That's for the kids' websites or apps or something, right? Yeah, sound is a huge part of video games and you alluded to it, but video games were a huge inspiration for me throughout my career and long wanted to inject more of video game design into the software I made.

And so Not Boring has really been a vehicle for that.

more photography but i think it's really way more about people taking pictures of menus and memories of all these people together and everybody's exposed exactly the same than it is about taking a picture that you put on your wall the same way

And

then they would take a number, put it on it.

All those trays got taken to a main tent.

And then the people got to go in there and they were blind, which I love because me there's nothing worse than someone bringing out all their family voting for them and then yeah because they're the local team we've seen that happen a lot yeah but this way it was all blind you know you you do your best you make your magic on it turn in and then they just have some teenagers whoever volunteers and they're uh basically the people that go there they buy a ticket or they buy like a 10 pack of tickets they get a pick 10 to try and then they pick their vote they just put their ticket in their little cup there and You know, the teams, it's all hands off for them.

They still can go clean up.

They're not worried about, you know, trying to get to awards and there's still people trying to get food.

So to me, that was the best route and publicized, try a bunch of stuff and easy for the teams, nothing out of their pockets.

We, cause

How's it all going?

It's going.

He is going.

It's been amazing, mate.

Far out you have the utmost respect for women after you watch what they do, when they give birth, and then from there on out, they're just weapons.

They're weapons.

It is totally relentless for the females.

Can you best describe that to us?

[laughs]

Um, he is going.

Uh, it's been amazing, mate.

Like, I far out, you have the utmost respect for women after you watch what they do when they give birth, and then from there on out they're just weapons.

Like, they're weapons.

It is, it is totally relentless for, for the females, and like, I feel tired.

I don't know how bloody Alex is getting through, through it.

... would you win?

Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you never applied for MasterChef? Where do you think Andy would be now?

It, it's so interesting 'cause like I...

I mean, even just watching, like I mentioned, that little clip of, you know, the 23-year-old me getting my white apron for the first time in 2012, it's such a different person that I see.

Like, and I, I think that this person was in there, um, but it's taken kind of my, my journey throughout...

You know, MasterChef has been part of my life since that, that moment, and as much as I wasn't a judge on the show, you know, you always be in and around, you know, maybe doing a guest judging role or a, or a cook o- or a cook-along or something like that.

So it's always been part of my life and, and I, without like getting the violins out, I, I do, I, I, I owe so much of like my personality and my progression as a human to MasterChef, you know? Like, and, and I don't think that...

I definitely wouldn't have gone into ki- I wouldn't have followed my dreams, like if it wasn't for MasterChef.

[laughs]