Although Anastasia, 26, unravelled during a harrowing 62-step Beet Wellington pressure test, it hasn’t dented her dreams one bit.
Since leaving the MasterChef kitchen Anastasia has undertaken work experience at several restaurants including Sydney’s Quay at Circular Quay and Firedoor in Surry Hills.
She is now developing a range of savoury organic products and eventually wants to open her own café using sustainably sourced produce.
“I’m working on an organic range of savoury products like dips, sauces, pickles, biscuits and tourines,” she says.
“I’ve always wanted to push and promote good sustainable produce and connect people with producers and farmers.”
Looking back on the vegetarian challenge by teen celebrity chef Flynn McGarry that proved her undoing, Anastasia says she was just too slow from the beginning.
“I’d trust my intuition [if I had my time over], I’d read faster, I’d move faster….I’d just to everything faster,” she says.
But she says she’s taking away some valuable lessons from the judges who told her to keep cooking with love and be confident.
“Something Matt Preston said to me was to be confident with your ingredients and how you handle them and that will show in how you cook.”
Meanwhile, she believes sparky Trent Harvey could be the dark horse of the competition, which is heating up this week.
This year’s Top 10 will be determined on Thursday, June 23.
“Trent has a lot of potential; he’s a bit of a dark horse,” she says.
“He knows so much about food. He’s really smart and intelligent.
“He’s always studying at home and I don’t think Trent has shown his best yet.”