Jock Zonfrillo Biography
Jock Zonfrillo is a former chef and Scottish television broadcaster located in Melbourne, Australia. He is the founder of The Orana Foundation and, together with Andy Allen and Melissa Leong, is a current MasterChef Australia judge.
How old is Jock Zonfrillo? – Age
He is 46 years old as of 4 August 2022. He was born in 1976 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Jock Zonfrillo Family
His mother’s family comes from Dalmellington, Ayrshire, while his father is from Scauri, Italy. In Ayr, Scotland, he attended Belmont Academy.
Jock Zonfrillo Wife- Children
Lauren Fried, Zonfrillo’s third wife, married him on January 1, 2017. In October 2014, the pair met on Twitter. Fried and Zonfrillo welcomed a boy two months early and weighed barely 1.2 kgs in February 2018. Fried and Zonfrillo are expecting a child in October 2020.
Jock Zonfrillo Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $5 million.
Jock Zonfrillo MasterChef
Zonfrillo, along with Melissa Leong and Andy Allen, was confirmed as one of the new judges for MasterChef Australia in October 2019. He told an Adelaide newspaper at the time that nothing would change for Restaurant Orana and Bistro Blackwood: “You’ll probably see me just as often (…) It’s only a 50-minute flight from Melbourne, and the restaurant is only a 15-minute drive from the airport, so I’ll be in Orana in no time.” Bistro Blackwood shuttered a few weeks later, followed by Orana in March 2020. Zonfrillo was named as one of the judges for Junior Masterchef Australia in July 2020.
Jock Zonfrillo Restaurant
He dropped out of school at the age of 15 and began an apprenticeship in the kitchens of The Turnberry Hotel, after which he worked at Chester’s Arkle Restaurant. Zonfrillo then worked under Marco Pierre White for a year before moving to Australia to work at Restaurant 41 in Sydney for a year. When Zonfrillo returned to the UK at the age of 22, he was assigned to his first head chef role at The Tresanton Hotel in Cornwall, England.
Zonfrillo returned to Australia in January 2000 as the head chef at Sydney’s Restaurant 41. In November 2013, he opened Restaurant Orana and Street ADL in Adelaide, and in September 2017, he replaced Street ADL with Bistro Blackwood. Restaurant Orana was crowned Australia’s 2018 Restaurant of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Magazine in August 2017, while Zonfrillo was named Australia’s 2018 Hottest Chef in The Australian the same year. The Good Food Guide recognized Orana Australia’s 2019 Restaurant of the Year in October 2018.
What are Jock Zonfrillo Tattoos?
The deeply inked arm of Zonfrillo should serve as a warning. “Nemo me impune lacessit,” it says in Latin. It’s the motto on Scotland’s coat of arms, and it translates into Scots as “Wha daur meddle with me?” or “No one crosses me unharmed.” You get the picture.
Jock Zonfrillo Closures
Zonfrillo debuted Nonna Mallozzi passed away in December of 2018. He closed it in July 2019 after losing more than $140,000 throughout its operation. Bistro Blackwood closed in late 2019, followed by Orana in March 2020. The total debts were around $3.2 million. Greta Wohlstadt, Zonfrillo’s long-term restaurant manager, left in the weeks running up to Orana’s closing.
Jock Zonfrillo Foundation
Zonfrillo founded The Orana Foundation in 2016 to conserve Indigenous Australian cooking traditions and ingredients. In October 2017, the Orana Foundation received the Good Food Guide Food For Good Award. Following that, questions were made in the media about Zonfrillo’s handling of the charity. Zonfrillo filed defamation action against Nationwide News in the Federal Court of Australia in September 2020 in relation to a report about the Orana Foundation. The court dispute was settled by Nationwide News. On December 17, 2020, The Australian released an apology in their newspaper and on their website.