The Main Kitchen of the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The Main Kitchen of the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
A spectacular set that includes a living wall of herbs and an ‘Alpine lodge’ has been created for the new MasterChef series, writes Sarah Ell.
You'd never know it from the outside, but deep in an industrial building in West Auckland is a top-class Asian fusion restaurant. And a two-storey charcuterie. And an Alpine lodge. All these aspects - and much more - are part of the new MasterChef New Zealand set, unveiled tonight on TV3 as the top 16 contestants assemble at the main studio for the first time. Much more elaborate than the sets used for the show's previous incarnations, it's very much part of the competition, rather than just being a backdrop.
Designed by Kiwi Mick Coote, whose extensive CV includes the production design for many well-known ads, the 875sq m set is three dimensional. Along one side of the large cooking floor are a series of "mini sets", offering customised areas to film different aspects of the show plus act as a visual counterpoint to the action in the centre.
Series producer Simon Fleming says the network and production company were looking for a new look. "We wanted something a lot bigger and brighter and bolder for the new launch," Fleming says. "We wanted to have lots of different spaces and styles, and lots of character, too, so there's always something different to see."
And there certainly is. At one end of the huge warehouse space inside which the set is built is what looks like a large concrete wall embellished with planter boxes full of living greens. Contestants enter the set through double doors and walk down steps flanked with herbs and vegetables they are able to use in their dishes.
The wall looks like the side of an old concrete building but designer Coote says it's actually a giant plaster cast, made in a silicone mould. "You buy it in sheets and glue it and screw it together. It's quick and economical," he says.
The cooking floor is kitted out in timber veneer and stainless steel, punctuated by brightly coloured Bellini ovens. This area is open on one side to enable filming, but ranged along the far wall is a series of spaces: the "Alpine lodge" - think roaring fire, a rustic timber mantelpiece and a cow skull; a French-style, charcuterie with a balcony above from which contestants can look down on the cooking floor; a cosy den lined with wine bottles; and the tasting room, where the three judges do their own bit of grilling - of the contestants and their offerings.
The Alpine Lounge on the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The Tasting Room on the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The pantry of the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
Adjacent to the tasting room is the set's most striking space: an intimate "restaurant" to be used by the contestants for silver-service challenges. It has a touch of Madam Woo about it, with its pan-Asian influences, from the terracotta-warrior cut-outs to the pink cherry blossom wallpaper and Thai-style ceiling hangings.
Satisfying the practical requirements of the show are an equipment room full of gleaming high-tech appliances, including sous-vide machines, foam makers and smoking guns, plus the well-stocked pantry, brightly lit like a mini-supermarket and loaded with fresh produce, seasonings and other ingredients.
Coote says the set had to accommodate the practical demands of filming as well as look interesting and exciting on screen. Starting with a cavernously empty warehouse space, Coote and his team had to create a practical, good-looking set with many different aspects in a matter of weeks.
The design began with the dimensions required for the cooking floor, to accommodate the initial 16 competitors, "then it was a matter of making everything else fit around that".
The Living Wall on the Masterchef NZ. Photo / Supplied
The Restaurant area of the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The Den on the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The "green wall" of herbs and veges was on the "must-have" lists of the production company and network.
Coote says the idea with the multi-roomed approach was to always provide an interesting backdrop for filming. "When you look at something, you are looking through it to something else. There are layers and layers of things to look at.
"When people are watching the show, they will have to see a few episodes before they understand where all the different parts are. It's a good thing to keep people thinking, 'what's that there'?"
On a cold Tuesday morning, the dishes of the day have been prepared and plated and the contestants wait nervously upstairs in the cast area to be called down to face the judges, one by one. Chefs and restaurateurs Al Brown, Josh Emett and Mark Wallbank are "alone" on set - alone, except for the camera crew, including one wielding a huge boom, and a bevy of stylists and assistants. An immaculately plated dish is taken away for a close-up shot before Brown divvies it up and the three taste it and deliver their verdict to camera.
Taking a well-earned break to warm up by the fire in the Alpine lodge, the judges are excited about the set.
The Charcuterie on the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The equipment room on the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
The pantry of the Masterchef NZ set. Photo / Supplied
"I think it's fantastic," says Emett, the only one of the three judges to have taken part in previous series. "It's important for the contestants to have a great environment to cook in. Cooking in a good space is like having a nice office to work in."
The lay-out of the cooking stations is also important, Emett says, to enable contestants to work efficiently, with plenty of room to store equipment and to create without feeling cramped.
"Some of the contestants do tend to get themselves into a bit of a state, " he says. "Certain people work better than others."
"It's a very generous space - it gives the contestants room to be able to do their best and feel comfortable," adds Brown. "But because the space is used by other people, too, the crew and the judges, it has to work as a TV set as well."
The look of the set is important for Wallbank, whose restaurants, MooChowChow and The Blue Breeze Inn in Ponsonby and Woodpecker Hill in Parnell, are known for their visual style as well as their cuisine.
Masterchef judges Josh Emett, Al Brown and Mark Wallbank in the main kitchen. Photo / Supplied
"When I design my own restaurants, it's a lot about theatre, and the same thing has been done here," he says. "With the various camera angles, it's got to film well."
Wallbank's favourite area of the set is the wine-bottle-lined den; Emett likes the living wall of herbs and veges. And Brown?
"The tasting table," he replies, to laughter from his colleagues.
"But seriously, they've done a great job to get a sense of such variety in the space. When you are in each area you feel something different."
