{"id":156665,"date":"2016-09-04T21:41:08","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T11:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=156665"},"modified":"2020-10-06T09:59:02","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T23:59:02","slug":"pasta-champ-ready-to-defend-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/09\/04\/pasta-champ-ready-to-defend-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Pasta Champ Ready To Defend Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FLASHBACK: Cellar door assistant Natalie Prenol, from Kingaroy, encourages Wondai’s Michaela Graaf before her knock-down win in last year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 4, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

The pressure is starting to mount on reigning champion Michaela Graaf … but she promises to stay calm and collected when she defends her crown at Moffatdale Ridge this Saturday.<\/p>\n

Last year Michaela won the pasta eating competition at the Ridge’s first-ever Italian Festival, mowing down eleven other contestants by demolishing a plate of spaghetti bolognese in record time.<\/p>\n

Michaela said her decision to enter the event was really a last minute thing.<\/p>\n

“I’d never entered any eating competition before, and I was tossing up whether to go in it or not,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But when they were lining up they were a couple of contestants short, so I thought: why not?”<\/p>\n

The rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n

Michaela said winning the pasta eating competition had changed her life in several ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I was helping out with Murgon Rotary at last year’s festival,” Michaela said.<\/p>\n

“But I’ve been helping out at Moffatdale Ridge for a few months now, so on Saturday I’ll be defending the title for (Moffatdale Ridge owners) Jason and Sue (Kinsella).<\/p>\n

“And now Jason tells everyone at the cellar door about me winning the pasta eating competition, so I guess there’s a bit of performance pressure there.”<\/p>\n

Is she on any special training regime to prepare for Saturday’s contest?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“No, I’m actually on a diet at the moment,” Michaela said.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But I think I can let it go for just one day on Saturday … and I’m pretty sure I’ll have an appetite!”<\/em><\/p>\n

How about mental discipline?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I’m really trying not to think about it too much,” Michaela said.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I don’t want to peak too soon.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Does she know if she’ll be facing bolognese again? <\/strong><\/p>\n

“Sue hasn’t given me any tips about what sort of pasta she’ll be making this year, so I guess I’ll find out when everybody else does.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I’ve pretty confident with spaghetti. But how I might go with other types of pasta is anybody’s guess.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Moffatdale Ridge’s second Italian Festival will be held at the winery’s Barambah Road property from 9:30am to around sunset on Saturday, September 10.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The one-day festival will feature Italian foods, Italian beers, Moffatdale Ridge’s Italian-inspired wines, bocce, a salami wheel and an Italian cooking demonstration by Roberta from The Saucy Fork.<\/p>\n

Entertainment will be provided by the Fortunato Isgro band, along with sax from Tom McKenzie and jazz and blues from Soul Good, a 12 piece band, and opera numbers by Queensland opera sensation Meg Kiddle.<\/p>\n

There’ll also be a dance floor and prizes for the best traditional Italian dress, and guests who book online<\/strong><\/a> can go into the draw to win a weekend for two at Oceans Resort and Spa in Hervey Bay.<\/p>\n

Admission is $10 and a courtesy coach will be running from Nanango through Kingaroy, Tingoora, Wondai, Murgon, Yallakool and Barambah Bush Caravan Park.<\/p>\n

However, guests will need to pre-purchase their tickets and book with Moffatdale Ridge to be certain of a seat on the buses.<\/p>\n