There's a lot of laughter around the table.



There's also blokey banter, good-natured ribbing and some cheeky diversions into subjects that cannot be elaborated upon in a family newspaper.



The tradition developed by MasterChef Australia judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan over eight seasons is that, when there's an immunity challenge under way in the studio, they head to lunch together as they're not required on set until tasting time.



​Within the available window – which they might push to 90 minutes by delaying their return until the third call from a harried production assistant – they explore Melbourne's inner north, within a reasonable radius of MasterChef HQ in Ascot Vale.

They might try a charcoal chicken shop, a burger joint, a laksa specialist or a fine-dining establishment. Sometimes, they take one of the visiting judges – Heston, Nigella, Marco – with them although, regrettably, the outing with Marco didn't go well: "It was terrible," Mehigan sighs. "We took him to a sandwich place. We thought, 'This looks alright', and asked the guy: 'What's the best thing that you do?' And he said: 'The meatball sub'. Well, I reckon he panicked and it was awful: it was like spaghetti and meatballs inside roti bread. We were horrified, watching Marco Pierre White chomping through this oily bread and meatballs."

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Supplied George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston liken themselves to The Three Musketeers or members of an aging rock band.

Today they've gathered at The Boathouse, the Moonee Ponds eaterie owned by Mehigan, and are tucking into a selection of share plates: beetroot dip, arancini, grilled chicken, honey roasted carrots. Calombaris is protesting slightly as he has a "date night" planned with his partner – and has already received recommendations of must-order dishes at the chosen venue. But he can't resist tasting the food arriving at the table.

It's a lively gathering. The voluble, flamboyant Preston, his trademark cravat today a neon animal print, talks so fast his words jam together. He declares that, generally, conversation runs to Wittgenstein, then concedes it's more likely to be Brendan Fevola or soccer. Calombaris, who can summon a fierce stare, is often on his phone overseeing activities in his restaurant empire or mischievously lobbing bombs into the conversation to gauge their impact. The smoothly efficient Mehigan says that he tends to arrive early for engagements; Preston's likely to be late.

They proudly call themselves "food nerds" and they've shared this passion, on screen and off, from the get-go. The meal ritual began during the 2009 Sydney-based debut season. Away from their Melbourne homes, the judges began eating out together at the end of a day's shooting, at a time when there was no certainty about the show's viability. International buyers weren't queuing up to invest in the format, even with the bells and whistles added by the Ten network to transition a British daytime programme to prime-time. Advertisers and supermarket sponsors weren't rushing to be involved. Preston recalls that he resolved to make the most of his time and his expense account.

Supplied MasterChef Australia has plenty of guest chefs lined up this season, including the feared Marco Pierre White.

Preston: "I remember thinking, 'The show's not going to last long, at least I'll have lived in Sydney for three months and I can get a handle on Sydney dining'."

Calombaris: "And eat well."

Mehigan: "That first year in Sydney, we basically said: 'Where haven't we been'?"



Calombaris: "And put on a lot of weight."



Mehigan: "Did you honestly think a prime-time cooking show wouldn't last?"



Preston: "You can't smell it, you can't taste it, there's no singing and dancing, no gags".



Calombaris: "And the judges aren't hot."



Preston: "It broke every TV rule."



Mehigan: "Imagine the director looking down the lens and thinking, 'So who picked these three? There's two short blokes and one really tall one'."



Preston: "And then thinking, 'Is there any reason we haven't got Curtis Stone'?"

Supplied Masterchef Australia judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston.

History attests that the risky move of a cooking contest in mainstream prime-time paid off handsomely and the trio has since made it their business to make the most of the attendant culinary opportunities. The Hong Kong trip featured a visit to a famed dumpling den. People queuing outside in the rain were being admitted in batches and George and Matt were ushered in to feast on the delicious parcels, while Gary remained outside, dejected in the downpour, awaiting entry. Then came the look of bliss on his face when he finally made it inside.

The trip to Italy saw the production in lockdown due to fears of an infectious virus. Supposedly confined to their the respective rooms for three days, the trio got busy sneaking out together: a picnic at the Forum, a visit to a salumeria, dinner at a Michelin three-star, where Gary, forced to borrow a jacket from George in order to comply with the dress code, felt like he was strapped into a straitjacket. Now they're relishing the possibilities that the impending California trip will bring, with destinations already planned in San Francisco and the Napa Valley.

In addition to the off-screen perks, the judges take pride in the respect earned from an initially sceptical industry. "In the beginning, because a lot of reality TV hadn't really been about its subject, a lot of food people, chefs particularly, felt it wasn't going to be about the food, so they didn't want to get involved," Preston recalls. "A singing programme wasn't really about the singing: it was about the journey and the drama."

But as MasterChef made macarons and croquembouche terms familiar to households on both sides of the Tasman, and developed a reputation as a production that found and nurtured talented amateur cooks, it earned respect.

"Reality TV was all about what we call fluff and spank," says Mehigan, "which means that they would always say something positive, and then follow it with lots of negative stuff. None of us wanted to be the grumpy judge: no one wanted to be Simon Cowell. We all wanted to be Randy from American Idol or Marcia from Australian Idol: 'You go, girl'!"

As Calombaris heads off for his date night, Preston likens them getting back together for another season as being akin to an old rock band going back on the road.

Then Mehigan exits with a story that sums up the mood: "An little old Italian woman came up to me at a cooking demonstration and she was very angry. She said, 'Why isn't there a woman on the judging panel for MasterChef?' And I said: 'Because no one is busting up the three musketeers, my darling'."

MasterChef Australia begins on TV One on Wednesday at 7.30pm.