MasterChef winner Brent Draper opens business in Yeppoon

Central Queensland foodies, brace yourselves - a MasterChef winner has moved to the region and will tantalise your taste buds starting March 12. VIDEO

Central Queensland foodies, brace yourselves—MasterChef winner Brent Draper has moved to the region and will tantalise your taste buds starting March 12.

Brent, better known as Drapes, opens the doors to his very first food business today on the Capricorn Coast - Drapes Deli.

The former boilermaker has relocated his family to Yeppoon to start a new life after 1.5 seasons on the Australian competitive reality television show.

Drapes started competing in the 2021 season but decided to leave after reaching the top 13 due to mental health issues.

In an interview with The Morning Bulletin today, Drapes said he and wife Shonleigh toured Australia in a renovated bus after his exit in 2021, sticking to the coast, as he worked on his mental health and spent time together as a family with their two children.

He said they had made it to Western Australia when he got a phone call asking him to return to MasterChef and compete in the 2023 competition.

MasterChef Australia 2023 winner, Brent Draper. Picture. Channel 10

The born and raised Beaudesert country town lad said his dream goal going into the MasterChef competition was to find a way to change careers without having to start at the bottom with an apprenticeship.

“I love cooking,” he said.

“I started my boilermaker trade because it was just there… it’s what you did at the end of high school - uni or trade.”

Despite making it through to Top 13 and then coming back to go all the way through season 13 and winning 2023, Drape’s humble nature about cooking ability still shines through when he remarks about how he managed to get past the original audition process, saying “I probably couldn’t really cook too good,’ but reckons he could “talk a bit and tell a joke or two”.

MasterChef judges Andy Allen and Melissa Long, who tasted many of his dishes throughout 1.5 seasons would disagree about his cooking abilities.

MasterChef Australia 2023 semifinalist, Brent Draper. Picture:, Channel 10

Drapes has promised similar flavours to what viewers saw on MasterChef will be featured in his deli meals, with Mediterranean and Mexican, along with Korean and Japanese-inspired flavours on the menu.

Most of the menu is Focaccia sandwiches which will be available from 8am onwards.

There is a breakfast menu available earlier for those hungry birds with doors opening at 6.30am Wednesday to Sunday, and closing at 2.30pm on those days.

Drapes said he decided to relocate to Yeppoon after travelling through Australia in between MasterChef seasons and making friends with people all over the country.

He said Yeppoon was where some of those friends were.

He also likes the region’s country town feel to it, similar to where he grew up, and that he can still source a lot of the different ingredients for his food locally - including roasted coffee beans from Seventeen Seventy in the Gladstone region.

Drapes said he liked the relaxed vibe of a deli compared to a restaurant and saw an opportunity in Yeppoon for a nice little deli for people to grab good takeaway food and head to the Esplanade or other parts of the coast with their family on weekends and relax under a tree and eat.

MasterChef 2023 winner Brent Draper with wife Shonleigh opens business Drapes Deli in Normanby Street in Yeppoon.

The focaccia is baked fresh every morning in house, Drapes explained.

He also makes his own Kimchi, fermented hot honey sauce and a chilli oil.

Drapes said he also has “an amazing umami salt that we put on our fries; like sort of secret… I can’t tell you what’s in it… my wife would kill me”.

For those with a sweet tooth, and loved his made chocolate skils from his finale attempts to recreate legendary French-Swiss pastry chef and chocolatier Amaury Guichon’s pocket watch dessert, Drapes will have some special treats available at the deli.

He said he will be baking cookies and cheesecakes for the sugar lovers of the region.

To find out more, visit Drapes Deli yourself at 3 Normandby Street, Yeppoon.