The real taste of reality TV

HAVE you ever watched a cooking show and thought: "That looks really good, but I wonder how it tastes?"

If so, now's your chance to find out. Making its way to Asia for the first time is MasterChef Dining & Bar, a pop-up concept that will feature five MasterChef personalities, including Audra Morrice, Woo Wai Leong and Reynold Poernomo, from Nov 25 to Dec 9.

UK celebrity chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White will be helming the 15-day experience at Ash & Elm at Intercontinental Singapore.

The youngest winner of 3 Michelin stars says: "MasterChef is a global brand. It's the top-tier of food shows with millions of followers, who become almost part of the show. It's fantastic that they can now come try the contestants' specialities for themselves."

The dishes on offer haven't been decided yet, but they will be a "showcase of each individual's specialities" and announced on their Facebook pages on Nov 21. The event is organised by format licensors and producers of the MasterChef brand, Endemol Shine Group, and will include lunch and dinner, the latter of which will cater to 130 people.

Chef White says: "The biggest challenge, whether it's a pop-up concept or a permanent one, is about creating consistently high standards. Peoples' expectations of this event are bound to be high, especially when they walk into the lovely ambience of the InterContinental Hotel."

To ensure they're familiar with the setting, the chefs will arrive five days prior to the pop-up because "you can't just turn up on the day itself and expect everything to be done".

Having been involved with MasterChef for the last eight years, chef White definitely has the experience to manage the pop-up.

He explains: "I'm like the Pied Piper. Just like the contestants, I like the challenge, and mine is to get them to deliver their dishes to a high standard. It's like being a conductor of an orchestra because if I get it wrong, they all get it wrong. And when you're cooking for 130 people at a time, there are many things that can go wrong."

His philosophy when it comes to mentorship is simple: "I believe that if you have a dream, you have a duty to yourself to make it come true. All these contestants are pushing to make their dreams come true, so it's really about helping them get the best results."

The concept has had successful runs in Australia and England, where it was completely sold out. Though there aren't any plans to take it anywhere else just yet, chef White describes it laughingly as "an exhibition which tours the world", so we shouldn't rule out another stop anytime soon.