Far from the fresh-faced teenager who battled it out against eventual winner Brent Owens, Laura took the skills and opportunity from the MasterChef kitchen and parlayed them into an enviable food career. After the show she worked as the pastry chef alongside Jock Zonfrillo at his acclaimed hatted restaurant Orana for two years, before moving onto Andres Cucina. She spent time at the award-winning Hently Farm in the Barossa Valley in 2018, before embarking on her own restaurant, Nido Bar and Pasta which she opened last year. The venture was a special one for the now 24-year-old, opening the space alongside her new husband and fellow chef Max Sharrad.
It’s been a long journey for Laura, who grew up in Melbourne’s Templestowe before moving to the McLaren Vale in South Australia in 2013. The middle of three children with a rich Italian heritage, Laura grew up under the watchful eye of her nonna Maria and nonna Rosa. Her Italian roots strengthened by a two-year period living in Tuscany as a child, Laura says cooking is in her blood, recalling sliding a chair up to the kitchen bench to help mix pasta dough alongside her mum Anita.
