No flash-in-the-pan: favourite keen to build on MasterChef success

After making it to the grand finale on July 16, the 43-year-old father of three walked away with a $40,000 prize as the 2024 runner-up.

He said he would love to showcase the best of Tasmanian food and produce with a television show of his own.

"I love to promote Tassie, that's something that I'm really passionate about," he said.

"I'd love to do a series sort of like a travelling butcher or something like that and go to different small businesses and promote them."

Pezza said he was not sure what his next move would be, but he was keen to get out and share his cooking across Tasmania.

"I'd like to try out a few things in the short-term, it could be some pop-up restaurants or doing local events," he said.

"Talk[ing] to the locals everywhere and get out and thank them for their support I think would be good."

Although Pezza talked about his dream of a paddock to plate restaurant during his time on MasterChef, he knows he will need to use his business smarts to see his vision succeed.

"I don't know if Smithton will be the place for that, I would really love to think it is," he said.

"But you see so many little places open up and shut down within 12 months and I don't want to be a flash-in-the-pan and do that."

He said if the right opportunity came up in the right kitchen, he would jump at the opportunity.

His wife Jennifer and three children, Soph, Austin and Isaac, watched on in person as Pezza went up against Nat Thaipun for the MasterChef Australia title.

Amid criticism of his choice to serve rib eye steak and brussel sprouts in the grand finale challenge, Pezza said he wanted to showcase his biggest strengths.

"Obviously my strength was was cooking meat and and if you look back on the show, how many people cooked steak on the show?" he said.

"And how many people tried to cook steak, and did no good? It's not as easy as it seems."

In the pressure test challenge, Pezza was tasked with recreating a 112-step Michelin-star dessert recipe by chef Clare Smyth.

He was unable to successfully replicate a key element of the dish, a cloud of malted sugar, which cost him the win. Pezza said he has since had his redemption moment.

"I've had a bit of a go at it [again] and another failure and a couple of good ones," he said.

"I think it was still a little bit liquidy [on the night] because I didn't cook it out long enough."

Pezza said he is still pinching himself about his new mantle of MasterChef Australia runner-up.

"Like everything in life, you get out of it what you put in and I did exactly that; I worked hard, I studied hard," he said.

While it was easy to want to sit back and relax after long days of filming, Pezza knew he would need to keep working and learning different techniques if he wanted to stay in the competition.

"It didn't surprise me, in the end, where I got because I'm very determined," he said.

Although Pezza did not secure the trophy, he has garnered a cult following both at home and among MasterChef viewers nationwide.

He said he had seen an upturn in customers to his butcher shop, Perry's Quality Meats, on Smithton's Smith Street.

"People are dropping in more," he said.

"It's the hype around town, businesses hung up signs like 'go Pezza' and put photos in the window."