The Great (Marion) Grasby

She may not have made it all the way on MasterChef, but that wasn’t going to stop Marion Grasby from taking on the world (words: Lara Picone, photography: Lauren Bamford).

Marion Grasby is describing her ultimate toasted sandwich with a great deal of animation and detail: “It has to be a dark rye walnut sourdough, but not heavy, you still want a bit of give.

Then a salted, churned, European-style butter. Followed by an Italian mostarda for a bit of sweetness, and an aged comté – no less than 24 months!" When it comes to building the perfect toastie, she’s worth listening to.

The MasterChef graduate-turned-international-business-owner proudly estimates her toasted sandwich consumption at about 700 units during a two-year stint working at an Italian providore in Adelaide.

The fact she’s taken the time to calculate this bit of trivia is typical of her encompassing love for food – she isn’t someone to deny the pleasure of carbs.

Sandwich obsessed

“When I come back to Australia, I’m sandwich obsessed," she says, tucking into a meatball version at a Mount Martha bakery in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. “You just can’t get bread like this in Thailand."

For the past three years, Bangkok has played home base for Marion as she’s set about building her successful food range, Marion’s Kitchen.

Her Asian-themed, make-at-home recipe kits proved so popular in Australia that Marion and her husband, Tim, set their sights State-side.

Now her products, bearing an image of the smiling cook in her signature glasses, can be found in 3500 stores in the US. From Thai to Sri Lankan curries and san choy bow to Singapore noodles, Marion’s Kitchen pumps out 150,000 kits each month to locations as diverse as Tamworth and Texas.

Considering the demand for her classic Asian meals, it’s somewhat ironic that a “claggy" satay sauce brought about her demise on a show that, in its second year, had kept an increasingly food-savvy Australia on the edge of its seat.

It’s doesn’t take a sharp eye to see why dedicated MasterChef fans reeled at Marion’s jarring elimination back in 2010.

Her culinary talent is obvious, but it’s her warm and genuine nature that pervades, even under the crafty edits of a competitive cooking show.

Gracious and intelligent, Marion’s post-show success couldn’t have been so complete were she not so likable.

Reflections on MasterChef

She has nothing but kind words for her MasterChef experience and fellow alumni, fondly dubbing her one-time rival and Season 2 winner, Adam Liaw, “a legitimate genius".

During our photoshoot, her grounded, self-assured manner is evident as we bundle a live and slightly perturbed chicken under her arm, and she handles it with aplomb (as does the chicken, to be fair).

“It’s funny because when you’re on the show, you don’t know whether people like you or not – you’re shut off," explains Marion.

“I went in with all these things I wanted to do, but it’s all up in the air. You could be eliminated early and not have a profile."

Once the curtain fell following the satay incident, Marion’s grace in defeat assured her a foothold from which to leverage her MasterChef experience.

Rather than wallow, sleeves were rolled and the very next day she began researching ingredients and producers.

The following week, she and Tim were Thailand-bound with a folder of her recipes tucked under arm. “I look back now and think, ‘Oh my god, that was the most naive thing to do’," she laughs.

If necessity is the mother of invention, naiveté may well be the mother of entrepreneurs, but Marion certainly wasn’t clueless.

In fact, her path leading to that fateful satay sauce had equipped her with a particular set of skills needed to turn Marion’s Kitchen into the sustainable business she’d imagined.

Marion Grasby, the Australian Traveller

Growing up in Darwin, surrounded by the region’s tropical produce and with a Thailand-born chef for a mother, Marion’s culinary inquisitiveness was nurtured from an early age.

Over the years, she flitted between Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide (where she devoured those 700 toasted sandwiches).

She collected a law degree, journalism degree, and a job as an ABC cadet along the way, but it wasn’t until she crossed paths with her wine-merchant, future husband, who exposed her to a world of food producers, that she considered earning a living from her passion.

Giving up a promotion at the ABC to study her masters in food and wine history, Marion performed a career U-turn, alarming friends and family in the process.

“When I quit my job to study food, people said, ‘Are you crazy? You have a law degree, a journalism degree, and a great job as a TV journalist, what are you doing?’" she says.

The gamble paid off once the MasterChef train arrived on the scene, no doubt putting an end to those incredulous questions.

After the train moved on and the dust settled, the next thing to arrive was a shipment of Marion’s Kitchen green curry.

Green curry forever?

“I said to Tim, ‘Holy shit! We have container-loads of green curry. If it doesn’t sell, we’ll be eating it forever!" she says as she throws her head back with the kind of laugh that only comes with hindsight.

Luckily, it’s not green curry forever, although it will probably remain a fixture in their lives as long as Marion’s Kitchen continues flying off shelves, which it seems set to do with the addition of some hungry Texans.

With an eye on the UK market next and a lot of work still to be done in the US, it looks like a homecoming for Marion is a little way down the track.

“I definitely want to come back to Australia, but right now it makes sense to be in Bangkok to keep an eye on production, and to be closer to the States," she says.

“I take any chance I can to come back, though, even if it’s for a few days."

Indeed, she has flown especially to Melbourne for a handful of days just to join our photoshoot, and not once have the words ‘tired’ or ‘jet-lagged’ passed her lips. Instead, she offers to get up as early as required to help wrangle the aforementioned chicken.

With a little help from mum and dad

Any disconnect from living away from home is smoothed thanks to Mum and Dad Grasby, who picked up and resettled down the road from their only daughter to lend their palates to the business.

“Mum helps me with the recipes. She’s quite bossy – like me. We argue a lot about the flavours. But my 80-year-old dad always has the final say; he’s really good, he can see the end picture," says Marion.

With Team Grasby in position to keep it all on an even keel, we may soon see more Marion on our screens and our bookshelves but, first up, is a relaunch of the Marion’s Kitchen packaging.

“It’s a fresher me on the box," she laughs, adding, “I don’t know what I’ll do when I get old and wrinkly!"

With such a dream business to pursue, it’s hard to imagine a furrowed brow appearing on the 32-year-old’s face anytime soon, and she concedes she’s well down the track in the pursuit of happiness: “If I’m still doing what I’m doing now in another five to 10 years, I’ll be one happy person. I don’t need too much more."

Winding down in the Yarra Valley, where ‘work from home’ becomes ‘work from wine country’.

Steam from my morning coffee curls gently into the cool valley air, mist-veiled vineyards stretch out in neat rows below me. Magpies warble from trees, and the morning’s quiet carries the soft bleating of lambs from a nearby paddock. Midweek in the Yarra Valley has its own rhythm. It’s slower, quieter, with more empty tables at cafes and cellar doors, and walking trails I can claim all to myself. It’s as if the entire region takes a deep breath once the weekend crowd leaves.

walking trails in the Yarra Valley — You’ll find walking trails are less crowded during the week. (Image: Visit Victoria)

I haven’t come here for a holiday, but to do a little work somewhere other than my home office, where I spend too much time hunched over my desk. Deadlines still loom, meetings still happen, but with flexible work evolving from ‘work from home’ to ‘work from anywhere’, I’m swapping the view of my front yard to the vineyards.

A quiet afternoon at Yarra Valley Dairy

holding a glass of wine at Yarra Valley Dairy — Wine time at Yarra Valley Dairy, where you can enjoy a toastie or bagel in the cafe. (Image: Visit Victoria)

With the Yarra Valley just over an hour from the CBD, many Melburnians could drive here in their lunch break. I arrive late in the afternoon and am delighted to discover the Yarra Valley Dairy still open. On weekends, I’ve seen queues spilling out the door, but today there’s only one other couple inside. There’s no need to rush to secure a table; instead I browse the little store, shelves stacked with chutneys, spices, artisan biscuits and gorgeous crockery that would look right at home in my kitchen. It’s hard not to buy the lot.

a cheese tasting plate atYarra Valley Dairy — A cheese tasting plate at Yarra Valley Dairy.

I order a coffee and a small cheese platter, though the dairy has a full menu, and choose a wooden table with bentwood chairs by a wide window. The space feels part farm shed, part cosy café: corrugated iron ceiling, walls painted in muted tones and rustic furniture.

Outside, cows meander toward milking sheds. If pressed for time, there’s the option of quick cheese tastings – four samples for five dollars in five minutes – but today, I’m in no rush. I sip slowly, watching a grey sky settle over the paddock. Less than an hour ago I was hunched over my home-office desk, and now my racing mind has slowed to match the valley’s pace.

Checking in for vineyard views at Balgownie Estate

Restaurant 1309 at Balgownie Estate has views across the vines.

As my car rolls to a stop at Balgownie Estate , I’m quietly excited, and curious to see if my plan to work and play comes off. I’ve chosen a suite with a spacious living area and a separate bedroom so I can keep work away from a good night’s sleep. I could have booked a cosy cottage, complete with open fireplace, a comfy couch and a kettle for endless cups of tea, but as I am still here to get some work done, I opt for a place that takes care of everything. Dinner is served in Restaurant 1309, as is breakfast.

oysters at Restaurant 1309, Balgownie Estate — Oysters pair perfectly with a crisp white at Restaurant 1309.

On my first evening, instead of the usual walk about my neighbourhood, I stroll through the estate at an unhurried pace. There’s no need to rush – someone else is preparing my dinner after all. The walking trails offer beautiful sunsets, and it seems mobs of kangaroos enjoy the view, too. Many appear, grazing lazily on the hillside.

I wake to the call of birds and, after breakfast, with the mist still lingering over the vineyards, I watch two hot-air balloons silently drift above clouds. Perched on a hill, Balgownie Estate sits above the mist, leaving the valley below veiled white.

kangaroos in Yarra Valley — Spotting the locals on an evening walk. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Exploring the Yarra Valley on two wheels

the Yarra Valley vineyards — Swap your home office for a view of the vineyards. (Image: Visit Victoria/Cormac Hanrahan)

Perhaps because the Yarra Valley is relatively close to where I live, I’ve never considered exploring the area any way other than by car or on foot. And with a fear of heights, a hot-air balloon is firmly off the table. But when I discover I can hop on two wheels from the estate and cycle into Yarra Glen, I quickly realise it’s the perfect way to step away from my laptop and experience a different side of the region.

COG Bike offers pedal-assist e-bikes, and while the bike trail and paths into town aren’t particularly hilly, having an extra bit of ‘oomph’ means I can soak up the surroundings. Those lambs I heard calling early in the morning? I now find them at the paddock fence, sniffing my hands, perhaps hoping for food. Cows idle nearby, and at a fork in the bike path I turn left toward town.

It’s still morning, and the perfect time for a coffee break at The Vallie Store. If it were the afternoon, I’d likely turn right, in the direction of four wineries with cellar doors. The ride is about 15 kilometres return, but don’t let that put you off. Staying off the highway, the route takes you along quiet backroads where you catch glimpses of local life – farmers on tractors, weathered sheds, rows of vines and the kind of peaceful countryside you don’t see from the main road.

A detour to the Dandenong Ranges

legs hanging over the sides of the train, Puffing Billy Railway — The iconic Puffing Billy runs every day except Christmas Day.

The beauty of basing myself in the Yarra Valley is how close everything feels. In barely half an hour I’m in the Dandenong Ranges, swapping vineyards for towering mountain ash and fern-filled gullies. The small villages of Olinda and Sassafras burst with cosy teahouses, antique stores and boutiques selling clothing and handmade body care items.

I’m drawn to RJ Hamer Arboretum – Latin for ‘a place for trees’. Having grown up among tall trees, I’ve always taken comfort in their presence, so this visit feels like a return of sorts. A stroll along the trails offers a choice: wide open views across patchwork paddocks below, or shaded paths that lead you deeper into the quiet hush of the peaceful forest.

The following day, I settle into a quiet corner on the balcony of Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis and soon hear Puffing Billy’s whistle and steady chuff as the steam train climbs towards town. Puffing Billy is one of Australia’s most beloved steam trains, running through the Dandenong Ranges on a narrow-gauge track. It’s famous for its open carriages where passengers can sit with their legs hanging over the sides as the train chugs through the forest. This is the perfect spot to wave to those on the train.

After my midweek break, I find my inbox still full and my to-do list not in the least shrunken, just shifted from one task to another. But I return to my home office feeling lighter, clearer and with a smug satisfaction I’d stolen back a little time for myself. A midweek wind-down made all the difference.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Balgownie Estate offers everything from cellar door tastings to spa treatments and fine dining – all without leaving the property.

Playing there

the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Yarra Valley — Visit the TarraWarra Museum of Art. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Wander through Alowyn Gardens, including a stunning wisteria tunnel, then explore the collection of contemporary artworks at TarraWarra Museum of Art . Cycle the Yarra Valley with COG Bike to visit local wineries and cellar doors.

Eating and drinking there

Olinda Tea House offers an Asian-inspired high tea. Paradise Valley Hotel, Clematis has classic pub fare, while the iconic Yering Station offers wine tastings and a restaurant with seasonal dishes.

seasonal dishes at the restaurant inside Yering Station — The restaurant at Yering Station showcases the best produce of the Yarra Valley. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Marion’s foodie journey