ROCKHAMPTON chef Att Kleidon doesn't need to turn on the television to know what it's like working with celebrity chef Marco Pierre White.

The Frenchville Sports Club chef had a brush with fame late last year at a cooking workshop in Melbourne.

The 31-year-old is a regular MasterChef fan and is licking his lips at the prospect of watching this season's series, which features Marco Pierre.

Work commitments meant Att missed the series opener on Sunday night.

"Unfortunately I didn't get to watch the first episode but I plan to catch up through the week," he said yesterday.

"Marco Pierre is an amazing chef and teacher, I'm very happy I met him."

Att said he could imagine what it would be like on the show.

"I think I could handle it," he said.

"But it looks like it would be a lot of pressure so you would have to really focus on putting up a good meal in time.

"He was actually a really gentle and friendly man."

Att has been a chef in Rockhampton for eight years now and loves cooking Italian and Asian food but said nothing beat surf and turf for dinner.

The first episode of MasterChef the Professionals aired Sunday night with more than one million viewers tuning in.