Celebrity Profiles
Ursini, Andre
Andre’s is not the average story ….Andre is not average at anything. His passion for food and wine and success in the MasterChef series is driving him to pursue his dream.
By chance, Andre saw an advertisement for MasterChef Australia. He signed up and was invited to audition ….then invited to the top 50 in Australia … and then invited into the finals of the actual competition where 20 people lived together and competed as amateur cooks for a number of prizes.
Andre made it to the last week of competition after 3 months and three weeks of the 4 month series. All contestants had a ‘story’ and Andre’s was that he was not happy in his career path and his absolute passion for food was driving him to want to be a chef. Andre has a passion for all food but his real love & direction is in Italian food, wine and produce and throughout the show he was known as the guy who did the Italian food i.e pasta, gnocchi, lasagna!
The time on the show was not only a crash course in cooking but also media training and he is now savvy to the camera, radio and the media generally. It appears that he has tapped into an intimate media talent. Andre’s passion for food was the reason he entered the show - he did not find his passion through the show like many of the other contestants but always had it. He found through the show that his passion for food and love of home cooking could translate into the commercial kitchen and following MasterChef, he continued his training.
After MasterChef Australia
Following the show Andre did some training in a traditional Italian restaurant in Adelaide called Martini Ristorante. While he is learning the finer points of Italian cuisine at an accelerated pace, he is able to involve the diners in discussions on the food and also the cultural aspects. The Italian food style has always involved intense and emotional discussions as part of enjoyment and celebration of the food. His life has completely changed – not only with public recognition wherever he goes but his whole career path.
Andre is now working on a new project which will be in the inner city Adelaide that will cater for a breakfast and lunch time crowd, highly geared toward wine and Italian produce called Sol’Orso
He has done countless live radio interviews, print media articles and public appearances & cooking demonstrations. He has supported many charity events including his support for the Hutt St Shelter and the Touch football appeal, and through this has elected to invest time with Anglicare Australia – so that he can actually work with troubled teenagers to inspire and motivate them on their projects.
He enjoys on-going cooking demonstrations for Westfield and has also demonstrated for Bird in Hand Canapé degustation, Coriole Winery, private parties (Story covered by the Sun Herald Sydney) and Mount Barker Community.
Andre has also forged a great relationship with many South Australian wineries like Coriole, Woodstock and Bird in Hand as well and is looking forward to continuing his demonstrations in wineries and festivals.
Following the success of MasterChef, Andre is now on board with Mix102.3 as their restaurant reviewer and MixMasterChef! He is also doing ongoing work with the Advertiser-Indulge and recently signed on with Latina Fresh Pasta as the face of the Brand. Andre is a natural communicator and finds great pleasure in speaking about his experiences in life & Masterchef …. He is comfortable speaking while he is cooking and demonstrating his skill and passion. His style involves the entire experience…the cultural aspects, the history, the provenance, the preparation and the enjoyment. It is a journey to which Andre wishes to make a lifetime contribution.
