Matt Preston’s Plating Locally review: food tourism to tempt the eye

An opening line like ‘Australia. We think we know it, but do we really know what it tastes like?’ might have you thinking the following eight episodes are going to be Matt Preston haunting the shelves at Coles or Woolworths complaining that the so-called ‘half price’ blocks of chocolate are $4 when the full price is never $8. But Matt Preston’s Plating Locally has different fish to fry, sometimes literally.

Opening with Preston looking stylishly windswept on a rugged coastline, this is not a series simply about food. Rather, it’s about Preston sweeping into various visually stunning regions of Australia (and later, New Zealand), only to discover that not only do these places look good, they – or rather, the ingredients they produce – taste good as well.

A well-loved recipe for a reason

The first episode sees Preston exploring the Margaret River region of Western Australia, where to nobody’s surprise it turns out that there’s a lot of interesting food being grown and harvested in some visually impressive locations.

The food gives the scenery meaning, the scenery makes up for the fact we can’t taste the food: there’s a good reason why food tours have been a popular television format for decades.

Here Preston visits reef-based abalone farms, wanders between heritage hand-pruned vines on lush hillsides, and tucks into marron and foraged coastal herbs (cooked by a local nicknamed ‘Yoda’) on an isolated beach while the sun sinks into the Indian Ocean behind him.

It’s the visual equivalent of one of those thick glossy magazines you see on coffee tables in furniture showrooms, a window into a life that somebody might be living but you can’t get there from here.

An affable host

After his long run on MasterChef it’s easy to forget Preston started in the world of food as a critic. (Before that he was writing about Aussie soap operas for UK magazines.) Here he’s open and welcoming about food, making every meal seem like something he’d be more than happy to share with you even when it’s the kind of fancy treat you know costs three figures at some boutique eatery you should have booked in a month ago.

It’s not hard to imagine a version of this high-end foodie holiday that’s unsufferable to watch, but the affable Preston is the perfect host for this kind of show and he seems to be enjoying every second in front of the camera. The visual language here is stylish and solid (there’s plenty of drone shots for the landscapes and close-ups for the food), but Preston’s narration is just individual enough to make this feel curated rather than a tourism video.

Even when he’s a bit of a fish out of water (or in it, when he’s fishing), he takes it with just enough self-depreciating humour that suggests he’s well aware that he’s got one of the better jobs out there. And his stylish outfits don’t make it to every location; seeing him in a t-shirt and cap on a boat is almost startling.

Watch the trailer

Foodie heaven

Matt Preston’s Plating Locally  has style to spare, but there’s substance here as well. If you didn’t know that ocean swell is the equivalent of rainfall for an abalone farm (the more swell they get over a year, the better the crop), now you do. Ever wondered what ‘de-vigorating’ means in the world of wine growing? Turns out it’s an approach to snap a vine out of a vegetive state and get the fruit ripening early, because the longer they’re on the vine the more at risk they are.

Future episodes of Matt Preston’s Plating Locally travel to the Barossa Valley (where Preston checks out the local cheese and butter alongside the wines), Kangaroo Island, Victoria’s Yarra Yalley and the Tamar Valley in Tasmania, before ending up in Marlborough, New Zealand.

It’s notable that his journey follows the southern edge of the continent – there are no stops in New South Wales or Queensland, but at a guess he’s saving them for season two.

If you think about it, there’s no real requirement that amazing food should come from amazing locations. Plenty of great tasting stuff comes from shabby-looking backyard gardens. But if you’re hoping for a series where Preston jumps someone’s back fence and grabs a handful of tomatoes off a bush growing in a concrete tub, maybe write into SBS and ask for one, because Matt Preston’s Plating Locally is a feast – if only for the eyes.

Matt Preston’s Plating Locally airs on SBS Food and SBS On Demand from 12 August, with new episodes available weekly.

Discover more screen, games & arts news and reviews on ScreenHub and ArtsHub. Sign up for our free ArtsHub and ScreenHub newsletters.