Larissa Takchi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1997 (age 27–28) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Other names | Larissa Dominello |
| Education | Mount St Benedict College |
| Occupation | Television cook |
| Predecessor | Sashi Cheliah |
| Successor | Emelia Jackson |
| Spouse | Luke Dominello (m. 2021) |
| Awards | Winner of MasterChef Australia 2019 |
Larissa Takchi (born 1997) is an Australian cook who won the eleventh series of MasterChef Australia in 2019. [2] [3] At 22 years old, to date she was the youngest contestant to win the competition. [4] [5]
Larissa Takchi was born in Sydney, into a family of Lebanese origin. [6] Her grandparents had emigrated from Lebanon to Australia, and founded a stone fruit farm in Glenorie. [7] Her mother owned a cafe in Dural. [6] Prior to winning MasterChef Australia, she served as the general manager of her mother's cafe. [6]
In high school she attended Hillside Public School, followed by Mount St Benedict College. [6] Takchi attended Macquarie University, where she studied business. [6]
Takchi was selected in the 2019 auditions to join the 'Top 24' as a contestant on MasterChef Australia. On 23 July 2019, Takchi was announced as the winner of MasterChef 2019 and received a cash prize of $250,000, a new Holden Equinox car, and a monthly column in Delicious magazine for 12 months. Her winning dish was "Szechuan Pavlova", a dessert featuring beetroot and blackberry sorbet, Sichuan (Szechuan) pepper, and lemon cream. [8] [2]