{"id":2096607,"date":"2025-10-17T00:37:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2096607"},"modified":"2025-10-17T00:37:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:37:39","slug":"celebrity-chefs-miguel-maestre-and-colin-fassnidge-join-forces-with-perth-ceos-to-cook-for-the-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/celebrity-chefs-miguel-maestre-and-colin-fassnidge-join-forces-with-perth-ceos-to-cook-for-the-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrity chefs Miguel Maestre and Colin Fassnidge join forces with Perth CEOs to cook for the homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Celebrity chefs and local CEOs gathered at Perth City Farm in East Perth on Thursday night to prepare a culinary feast for those doing it tough on the city\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n

In its inaugural WA event, Perth CEO CookOff \u2014 hosted by national food rescue organisation OzHarvest \u2014 saw renowned chefs Miguel Maestre, Colin Fassnidge, and local talent Blaze Young lead 20 business leaders in the kitchen as they sought to give back to the community.<\/p>\n

OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn said the non-profit was 16,000 meals short of achieving its local donation target of 200,000 prior to the event kicking off.<\/p>\n

However, Ms Kahn suggested the event was about more than simply raising money to feed those in need, but fostering connection and purpose, and affecting change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference between this event and any other is the tables are turned, because our guests \u2014 the VIPs tonight \u2014 are our recipients, the people who come from the charities we serve,\u201d she told The West Australian on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo our leaders and these beautiful chefs will be serving our guests and making them feel dignity, respect in action.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/picture>
Camera Icon<\/title><\/svg>Miguel Maestre, Blaze Young and Colin Fassnidge, to put Perth city leaders through their paces at the OzHarvest CEO CookOff for the very first time. <\/span> Credit: Andrew Ritchie\/<\/span>The West Australian<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Divided into three groups, the chefs and their CEO apprentices combined to deliver a set menu featuring canapes, shared sides and mains, and desserts.<\/p>\n

Fast-talking My Kitchen Rules host Colin Fassnidge prepared his \u201cColin\u2019s famous chicken bread\u201d \u2014 describing it as an Irish pizza comprising roast chicken, and served on garlic bread with a heavy shake of herbs and potatoes.<\/p>\n

As a long-time ambassador of the organisation, Fassidge expected the experience would be eye-opening for his eager kitchen hands in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my CEOs, they\u2019re gonna to have to work very fast and not talk too much. It\u2019s gonna be hot in there,\u201d Fassnidge teased.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they will see what goes into feeding a lot of people, and then they will see the people they\u2019re feeding.<\/p>\n

\"Business<\/picture>
Camera Icon<\/title><\/svg>Business leaders in Perth will be put through their paces in the kitchen similar to previous OzHarvest events.<\/span> Credit: New Heights Media<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAnd I think that sort of resonates with people, because sometimes when you\u2019re up in the office, it\u2019s great to help a cause, but when you\u2019re on the ground level and seeing the people who really need it, I think, open your wallet, talk to your friends, get them to open their wallet. That\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fassnidge\u2019s equally chatty mate in Miguel Maestre drew on his Spanish routes, cooking several variations of paella while incorporating seasonal ingredients.<\/p>\n

The flashy yet modest chef believes food is about connecting with the community but it doesn\u2019t need to be glamourous to make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really that exciting, I\u2019m just a chef. And every time I get an opportunity to help a cause like this to achieve such a noble final destination, it\u2019s amazing,\u201d Maestre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real glamour of food is not the one in the three Michelin star (restaurant)\u2026 In fine dining you can hide (glamour) in a plate or in a sauce, but in a humble paella cooked outside in a garage, you can\u2019t hide it anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/picture>
Camera Icon<\/title><\/svg>A previous OzHarvest event to raise funds for the community.<\/span> Credit: Jon Bader<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two firebrands were joined by \u201cself taught\u201d local talent Blaze Young, executive chef of three of WA\u2019s most dynamic venues in Nieuw Ruin, Edward & Ida\u2019s, and Foxtrot Unicorn.<\/p>\n

While Young expressed excitement at collaborating with her more seasoned colleagues, as a resident of Perth, she hoped to spotlight the very real challenge facing the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomelessness is as big a problem as it\u2019s ever been in WA,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go out onto the streets of Fremantle at night time, you\u2019ll see that it\u2019s still something that we really need to be working on together as a community to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

With BP as OzHarvest\u2019s presenting partner, VP Australia Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Rachael Risucci, implored her industry colleagues to dig deep and embrace the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a great opportunity to give back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Involved with similar events across the nation, Ms Risucci said past feedback received from dinner guests was that they were \u201cthankful that people are doing something for them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for me,\u201d she added, \u201cit\u2019s just an overwhelming sense of pride, that you\u2019re actually doing something that\u2019s really meaningful to someone else who needs it. I think what\u2019s the most exciting thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.perthnow.com.au \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrity chefs and local CEOs gathered at Perth City Farm in East Perth on Thursday night to prepare a culinary feast for those doing it tough on the city\u2019s streets. In its inaugural WA event, Perth CEO CookOff \u2014 hosted by national food rescue organisation OzHarvest \u2014 saw renowned chefs Miguel Maestre, Colin Fassnidge, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2096608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[21741,22118,21913,344802],"class_list":["post-2096607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-food","tag-tv","tag-wa-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Celebrity-chefs-Miguel-Maestre-and-Colin-Fassnidge-join-forces-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2096607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2096607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2096607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2096609,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2096607\/revisions\/2096609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2096608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2096607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2096607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2096607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}