George Calombaris didn’t quite eat his way to Echuca, but you could be forgiven for thinking so as evidence from selfie-taking amateur photographers — at a variety of restaurant and entertainment venues in the region — dominated social media.
The easily identifiable television personality — famous for his many years cooking on reality show Masterchef — was in Echuca for three days as part of his volunteer role as a celebrity chef for the Kagome-inspired Echuca Regional Health fundraising dinner at the Echuca Wharf on Friday evening.
George was one of four chefs involved in the Cancer and Wellness Centre fundraiser, along with Glenn Austin, Ryan Stevenson and Luke Croston.
He arrived in Echuca on Thursday, but not before he was snapped at the Elmore Bakery and then later at Echuca’s popular Johnny and Lyle venue in High St.
On Thursday evening he, and the other chefs, were guests of Kagome at a major sponsor’s dinner aboard one of Echuca’s historic paddle steamers.
He then ended his night, at 10pm he added, at the American Hotel “with a couple of nice bottles of wine”.
On Friday morning, bright and early, at his own suggestion he was hosted by interim Echuca Regional Health chief executive officer Robyn Lindsay on a tour of the facility.
“It was George’s idea. I met with him, and the other chefs, on Thursday night,” Ms Lindsay said.
“They are all really busy today, but George offered to come and meet the team.
“He wanted to come and say thank you for all their work during COVID.
“And a lot of our staff will not get to be involved in this evening as many will be working.”
The Melbourne-born chef said he enjoyed working in the charity space and hospitals, in particular, had been a big focus of the time he had given.
A St Joseph’s work experience student, working in the hospital kitchen, had a unique experience when he encountered the famous chef during his visit.
Corporate Services manager Kim Young and her seven-chef team were among the specific sections of the facility that were on George’s list.
Ms Lindsay introduced George to a variety of staff, including the all-important dental team, and the surgical ward staff.
He was given a tour of the cancer and wellness centre, at the heart of Friday evening’s fundraising dinner.
He told The Riv that he had not visited Echuca since he was a toddler.
And he said the many hundreds of demands for selfies did not bother him in the least.
“People probably don’t expect me just to wander into their local bakery cafe, so naturally it creates a little bit of interest,” he said.
“I really enjoy getting out and experiencing cafes like I’ve done in the last couple of days.”
And his assessment of what was served up by the team at Johnny and Lyle.
“The coffee was stunning and I had the poached eggs with spinach. It was 11 out of 10,” he said.
George and the other three celebrity chefs were on the PS Canberra for a major sponsors dinner on Thursday evening, catered for by Echuca Moama company Two Tarts Catering.
The dinner was hosted by Kagome boss Jason Fritsch and allowed the major supporters of the event some one-on-one time with the chefs.
George has known Glenn Austin, who recruited him to be involved in the event, for many years and is a former boss of Luke Croston, was a head chef at one of his restaurants.
“I am just a part of the event, there will be bossing them around tonight,” he said on Friday.