Miguel Cascales Maestre (born 5 November 1979) is a Spanish-born Australian chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter, who has co-hosted the lifestyle television series ''

The Living Room The Living Room was a music venue on Metropolitan Avenue in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, which was originally established on Stanton Street of the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York City in 1988. The Liv ...

''. Maestre has presented TV programmes ''Miguel's Feast'', ''Miguel's Tropical Kitchen'' and '' Boys Weekend''. He participated in, and won the sixth season of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' on Sunday, 2 February 2020. In October 2013, Maestre became an Australian citizen.

Career

At the age of 21, Maestre travelled to experience the world and moved to Scotland where he began cooking and learnt to speak English. Maestre worked at Indigo Yard, Montpelier's Partnership. Maestre then returned to Spain, before moving to Australia. He worked in some of Sydney's premier kitchens including Bather's Pavilion, Bel Mondo, Cru and Minus 5 at Circular Quay. At the age of 27, Maestre worked as Head Chef of Tony Bilson's Number One Wine Bar in Sydney's Circular Quay, where he was originally working under Manu Feildel. Following a meeting with Spanish chef

Ferran Adrià Ferran Adrià i Acosta (; born 14 May 1962) is a Spanish chef. He was the head chef of the ''El Bulli'' restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava and is considered one of the best chefs in the world. He has often collaborated with his brother, the ...

elBulli El Bulli () was a restaurant near the town of Roses, Catalonia, Spain, run by chef Ferran Adrià and driven by the culinary ideas of Albert Adrià. The restaurant overlooked Cala Montjoi, a bay on Catalonia's Costa Brava. It held three Michelin st ...

, Maestre opened Australia's biggest Spanish restaurant named ''El Toro Loco'' at

Manly Beach Manly Beach is a beach situated among the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, in Manly, New South Wales. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne. Etymology The beach was named by Capt. A ...

. Maestre was head chef at ''El Toro Loco'' until he departed in 2010 following a legal stoush and the restaurant's name was changed to ''El Poco Loco''. In May 2018, Barry Du Bois and Maestre released an autobiographical book called ''Life Force'' about Du Bois's family, friendships, living with cancer and includes nutritional advice and recipes by Maestre. In 2019, Maestre competed in the sixteenth season of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', where he was paired with Megan Wragg. He was first to be eliminated. In 2020, Maestre won the sixth season of '' I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Australia''.

Television

Books

* ''Miguel's Tapas'', Hardcover (2010): , , Paperback (2014): , * ''Spanish Cooking'', Hardcover (2012): , * ''Life Force by Barry Du Bois and Miguel Maestre'', Paperback (2018) :

Awards

In 2014, Maestre was honoured by the King of Spain,

Felipe VI Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and h ...

, with the Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Mérito Civil (Officer's Cross - Order of the Civil Merit) for his "outstanding profile and representation of Spain in the Australian media" which was presented to Maestre by the Spanish Ambassador to Australia, Enrique de Viguera, in Canberra.

Charity work

Maestre is an ambassador for

Cancer Council Australia Cancer Council Australia is a national, nonprofit organisation which aims to promote cancer-control policies and to reduce the illness caused by cancer in Australia. It advises various groups, including the government, on cancer-related issues, ...

, CARE Australia and

R U OK? R U OK? is an Australian non-profit suicide prevention organisation, founded by advertiser Gavin Larkin in 2009. It revolves around the slogan "R U OK?" (gramogram for "are you okay?"), and advocates for people to have conversations with others ...

since 2014

Personal life

Maestre met his Australian partner Sascha while he was living and working at Indigo Yard in Edinburgh and where she was working as a waitress. They married in 2010 and have a daughter (born 2011) and a son (born 2014). Maestre has a younger brother who is a restaurant manager.

References

External links

Miguel Maestre's Official websiteMaestre Family Food Official websiteMiguel Maestre's Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maestre, Miguel Spanish chefs Spanish writers Spanish television chefs Spanish emigrants to Australia Spanish expatriates in Scotland Australian people of Spanish descent Australian television chefs Australian restaurateurs 1979 births Living people I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) winners