Celebrity chef Simon Toohey is one half of the team pioneering a new weekly market in the centre of Geelong. He spoke to Matt Hewson about his culinary journey and building a life in the region.
Since first appearing on MasterChef in 2019, chef and plant-based food advocate Simon Toohey has become a well-known figure in the Australian culinary scene.
After placing third in that first season, Simon was invited back for MasterChef: Back to Win in 2020, co-founded Sustainable Earth Network to promote zero-waste practices, become the host of cooking show Freshly Picked, launched a vegan smokehouse and become a highly sought-after guest at events.
In 2022 Simon and his partner Georgia relocated from inner-west Melbourne to Geelong, where he has become an active participant in the community.
He immediately connected with the Give Where You Live Foundation, becoming ambassador for its Feed Geelong Appeal (2022-2024) and hosting culinary events at The Paddock.
Simon created or facilitated numerous events in the region, holding a plant-based degustation at Flying Brick Cider House in 2024 and hosting a masterclass with Irish chef Declan McGovern at the National Celtic Festival in Portarlington this year, among others.
He said he and Georgia had been considering moving to Ballarat, but were put off by the cold winters.
“We were looking at Ballarat, and then my producer for Freshly Picked said, why not Geelong?” Simon said.
“I was like, because it’s like Newcastle – industry, factory work, stuff like that. He said ‘you haven’t been to Geelong, have you?’
“All I knew was the beacon of light, the Eye of Sauron (Geelong Refinery flare) in the sky.”
He has since been delighted to have his preconceptions about the region shattered and find a thriving culture of producers and makers in the food scene.
“Geelong is one of the biggest food bowls of Victoria, but we’re the forgotten city,” he said.
“We’re one of the fastest growing regional cities in Australia, we have this young demographic coming through with an interest in really good food, and we have a bunch of producers down here, which is phenomenal.
“Whether it’s meat, dairy, livestock, seafood, it’s unbelievably great. And then we’ve got people who are actually realising that this town is full of young people with creative minds, creating really cool ideas in food.
“There is this community screaming out to be nationally known… We’re also wine country here, we’ve got great distilleries and breweries, we have amazing stuff here.”
Simon’s road to becoming a celebrity chef has been a winding one. A self-described jock at his high school, Canberra Grammar, he wanted to study psychology but just missed out on the entry score.
Having already worked in a bakery since the age of 15, Simon began studying hospitality management at TAFE and working in the best pizza joint in town, before snagging a job working the front of house at the five-star Hyatt Hotel.
“I learned the hotel side of things, I learned how to work fast, and I really enjoyed that,” he said.
“I used to drink at a pub called Filthy McFadden’s, a great Irish pub… and so I started working there. Again, working under really cool people who taught me speed, how to serve more than one person at a time.”
When a mate offered him a job at a cocktail bar, Simon began to discover an unanticipated outlet for his creative side.
“You had to memorise 120 classic cocktails before you could even work there; I was like, that’s an achievement, that’s cool,” he said.
“I hated history, but then all of a sudden I started loving it. The history of cocktails was so exciting, from the Prohibition and bootlegging, to the worlds of drinks, how cocktails were invented in different countries, different places.
“I found the really wonderful, creative side of making drinks.”
By the time he had completed his advanced diploma and then a Bachelor’s degree in tourism management at University of Canberra, Simon had worked at all the best bars in town. He was ready for a change.
He moved to Byron Bay for 18 months before buying a one-one ticket and heading to the UK, where he based himself for the next five years.
While in London Simon perfected his hospitality craft, winning international cocktail awards and immersing himself in the history of the industry. But it was while managing the bar at Shoreditch’s trailblazing cocktail venue Callooh Callay he had an epiphany.
“It had this upstairs room called the Jubjub, seated 13 people, it was small,” he said.
“You’d give it to a bartender to run for a month and they would write the menu… cost the cocktails, run the books, the staffing. And I was like, you know what, I’m going to do it for a month, I need to get my creative side back.
“So I started doing some fun things… clarifying watermelon juices and putting it in a sphere, making a reduction of beetroot and dripping it in there, with a candle behind it that made it look like the sun was rising.
“I had (a drink) purely made from potatoes, the garnish, the liquid, the whole lot.
“I had one made of seaweed that I resealed into a sardine can… put it in a fish tank with plastic fish, give people a handheld fishing net and they had to fish the drink out. So this kind of craziness.”
When, on the first night of his run in the Jubjub, a drunk customer derided one of Simon’s creations with a homophobic slur, he had a realisation.
“At that moment, I realised alcohol is a luxury, and the majority of the time no matter how much people love a nice drink, ultimately they are just there to get pissed,” he said.
“Booze is a luxury, but food is a necessity. So over the next week I started searching for masters in gastronomy, food science.”
Simon was one of 12 students accepted to Queen Margaret University’s course in 2014. The masters covered a wide range of subjects, including food history, food culture, conservation, sustainability, rewilding, permaculture and biosecurity.
That was the beginning of the journey that took him through two seasons of MasterChef (“it was the most intense time… life-changing, for sure”) and, ultimately, brought him to Geelong.
Now Simon and business partner Kieran Blood – event specialist and founder of Geelong Beer Festival – have a new mission to kickstart a market culture in Geelong, starting with the city’s weekly market in Little Malop Street.
“Trying to get a brick and mortar, South Melbourne-style market in Geelong is my goal,” he said.
“When I was in Canberra, with the same population as Geelong has now, they had three full brick and mortar markets open from Wednesday to Sunday. Why can’t we do that?
“We want to build that sort of market event space, which is all about lifestyle and hospitality. Winter solstice night markets, fire markets, noodle markets.
“Whether that’s great hot sauces, tofu, soy sauces, whether that’s Ket Baker, Two Tins Patisserie of Lardass Butter, there is amazing produce there.
“If we can create a positive change in a town like Geelong, which is screaming for a really good fresh food and veg place, with a bunch of cool restaurants creating beautiful food, then great. That’s my big goal.”
