Masterchef letdown

THE furore over the degree to which the Masterchef winner has, or hasn't, actually "won their very own restaurant" looms large in the mind as you enter Aarya, a restaurant in the quaint old Tuscan town of Montecasino.

But whatever the degree of the winner's involvement, it would be naive to expect big corporate sponsors to conjure up a highly individual restaurant.

I admit disappointment that there isn't something more of winner Deena Naidoo in his very own restaurant than some moody foody photographs of him, his daughter's name given to the place and the odd dish featured from his Masterchef triumphs.

OK, let's lose the idealism and try to embrace the idea of the big corporate media exercise. So let's judge it - well, just the food for now - on those terms. I expected to lose quirk and risk, but to gain a slickness.

If corporate is going to win over individual, then that should be present in more than just great swathes of marble and sommeliers (though I love Brilliant, the sommelier at my table). The food should also reflect this.

That's a no-brainer, right? I'm not calling for swankiness, just for something beyond what I could get at any mediocre all-day mall eatery. Among the starters are antipasto platters, grilled mushrooms, Saldhana mussels in a tomato or cream base, and a snoek pate.

Mains include dishes such as hotel-style kingklip, a rendition of Naidoo's competition lamb, a hamburger, a steak, a few pasta dishes, and Deena's famous butter chicken from the television show.

Before ordering I'm still, idiotically, hopeful. Maybe the dishes are five galaxies away from the "brief" - Deena's famous use of spices and a menu reflecting our country's diversity - but if they're beautifully executed, I can forgive even the airline-style plastic-wrapped hand-wipes.

No such luck. The pate is all butter, no fish. The passable mussels are in a passable sauce. The chicken is flatly spiced, served, weirdly, with fried rice, and clumsily plated. Spaghetti Arrabiata is a tad overcooked, the sauce is . passable.

The deconstructed milk tart had to be tried as it, too, featured in the competition.

This rendition is - I can't use any other word - appalling. I take a bite and leave the rest. I feel depressed. And it's not just because we're at Montecasino.