Matthew McKenzie

Matthew McKenzie; Outback Matty is an Australian Celebrity Chef and public personality. He is one of Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver & Tobie Puttock’s first Fifteen Melbourne students.

Background
Matthew McKenzie (born 11 November 1986) is an Australian celebrity chef, public personality, nicknamed "Outback Matty" by fans following his performance on the Fifteen TV series with Jamie Oliver. McKenzie was born in Maffra, Victoria and began cooking at home at the age of fifteen. He attended Maffra and Sale State High School. Matthew’s culinary career took off with gusto when he was accepted into Jamie Oliver's first international restaurant, Fifteen Melbourne, Australia. Matthew carried out training at Box Hill Institute of TAFE and then qualified at Sofitel Culinary Academy. After successfully graduating from Fifteen Melbourne at the age of 21, Matthew landed his second chef position at Melbourne’s finest three hat French restaurant “Vue de Monde” under the professional mentoring of world renowned chef and entrepreneur, Shannon Bennett. From there, his career excelled with an offer to fly overseas to Hakuba, Japan, to launch the innovative Bar and Restaurant created by Australia’s first winter Olympic gold medallist, Steven Bradbury, at the boutique 4 star Aqua Alpine Hotel.

After the successful launch, including Matty’s own signature dishes, he returned to Brisbane, Australia, where he was appointed Head Chef at the famous historical Old Government House Queensland. Matthew is currently catering for high profiled clients including Australian Governor General Ms Quentin Bryce and Queensland State Premier Anna Bligh. McKenzie has cooked for Aussie actress Madeleine West (UnderBelly, Neighbours), Hamish and Andy (Rove Live), first winter Olympic gold medalist Steven Bradbury and pop singing sensation Dannii Minogue, just to name a few.

Career
McKenzie was working on a farm in Victoria before deciding his heart was in food. He worked at some top Australian restaurants before heading to Japan to launch an Australian Olympic restaurant. In Australia, he debuted his cooking career at the age of 22 at Vue de Monde. On completing his qualifications as a chef, McKenzie began cooking in Brisbane. He went on to become head chef at Old Government House Queensland.