Masterchef 2009 winner Mat Follas will be appearing in Port St Mary on Saturday 30 and Sunday 1 July as part of the Isle of Man Queenie Festival this year. Over the weekend Mat will be cooking up a number of Queenie dishes in the festival’s food theatre which is hosted by the Isle of Man’s very own Kathryn Sentence of Relish Cookery School.
Mat was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where his father had been posted with the New Zealand Navy. Although he grew-up in New Zealand, Mat has spent most of his adult life in England and has made the UK his home. Mat's background is in engineering. Beginning with an apprenticeship at the Naval Dockyards in Auckland, NZ, his career took him to Melbourne, Australia and then to London, before returning to New Zealand to gain a degree in Electronics & Computer Science as a mature student. He has been living in the UK and has built a very successful career in IT over the last 12 years. Outside of his career, Mat loves to travel widely, spending time in Central Europe, North America and South East Asia, including a period living in Thailand teaching people to scuba dive. This wide exposure to different cultures and food is reflected in his cooking influences.
Cooking at a high level came late to Mat. After moving to West Dorset with his family in 2002, Mat discovered that British waters offer great scuba diving opportunities, and with that came lots of fresh seafood. A day's cooking course at Rick Stein's Seafood School was the start of a journey that included winning the popular TV series Masterchef in 2009 and opening and running his own restaurant The Wild Garlic to considerable acclaim. The Wild Garlic was given some of the highest scores ever by The Guardian 9½/10 and The Telegraph 9/10 it has also been listed or recommended in the AA Restaurant guide, The Good Food Guide and The Michelin guide since the first year of opening.
Tim Croft, Queenie Festival organiser commented on Mat’s appearance, “We are delighted to welcome Mat to the Queenie Festival this year. He has been an advocate of Manx Queenies since tasting them at the BBC Good Food Show back in 2009. Since then Mat always hoped to attend the Queenie festival and this year we have been lucky enough to secure his appearance in what is a very busy time of year for him. Once again it shows the appeal that the Queenie Festival has and I can’t wait to try some of his dishes.”
2012 sees Mat working in partnership with the Dorset Wildlife Trust at their new centre on Chesil beach at Ferry Bridge, Portland. His new venture, The Chesil Beach Cafe, is a family friendly beach cafe where he will aim to cater for the regular beach customers with a range of cheerful and delicious takeaway meals and bacon rolls as well as sit down lunch and dinner for the family using, amongst more traditional kitchen equipment, the Chesil Beach Cafe’s own indoor BBQ for the best burgers and mackerel baps around.
To see Mat and the many other attractions taking place as part of The Isle of Man Queenie Festival Marine Weekend be sure to head to Port St Mary on Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July between 11am and 5pm.
For more information on the festival visit: www.queeniefestival.com
