Mu’ooz in Tigrinyan (the language of Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia) means tasty and healthy, and that’s just what it was. Anne and I had dinner with 4 friends last night at the Mu’ooz restaurant in West End, Brisbane. The restaurant is a not for profit social enterprise. The aim of Mu’ooz is to create employment, training and work experience opportunities for refugee women from Africa. My favourite dish was Mbisi, which is slow cooked goat with garlic, capsicum, green chilli and herbs. www.muooz.com.au

Like any good restaurant, the food is only as good as the Chef, and that’s where “Outback Matty” comes in. I had walked past the kitchen and noticed a rugged Aussie looking bloke wearing a “MasterChef” apron. I couldn’t help myself. I had to ask him if he was one of those celebrities from the TV cooking show – I was a bit star struck! Sure enough he was, appearing in the Australian MasterChef professionals series in 2013.

Matty’s story is just as interesting as Mu’ooz. He is one of Jamie Oliver’s protégé chefs from Fifteen, but didn’t start out life with a silver spoon. Quoting his web site “Matty is a true blue Aussie battler who comes from another walk of life, a dark past as a struggling teenager caught in the circle of heavy drug addiction, alcohol, crime and abuse. He suffered heavy depression for about nine months and tried to end his life, Matty was also homeless living on the streets eating out of bins at the age of 15 whilst living in an abandoned water tower all alone….” Check out www.outbackmatty.com for more of his story.

So…..what a duel find last night! Mu’ooz and Matty – thanks for a memorable experience and your inspiring stories.