Laura Cassai Biography: Net Worth, Height, Daughter, Parents, Age, Husband, Siblings, MasterChef Australia, Awards
Laura Sharrad, born Laura Cassai, is an Australian chef, restaurateur, and television personality best known for winning MasterChef Australia in 2025 after finishing as runner-up in both 2014 and 2020.
Born into a rich Italian heritage in Victoria, she was the youngest contestant ever to reach a MasterChef grand final at nineteen and has since built a career spanning acclaimed kitchens, cookbook authorship, and restaurant ownership.
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She is the co-owner of Adelaide’s Nido and Fugazzi Bar & Dining, the author of My Italian Kitchen, and a recognized advocate for Italian cooking, family tradition, and the mentorship she received from the late Jock Zonfrillo.
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| Wiki Facts & About Data | |
| Real Name: | Laura Sharrad (née Cassai) |
| Stage Name: | Laura Cassai |
| Born: | 18 February 1995 (age 31 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Templestowe, Victoria, Australia |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Parents: | Sandro Cassai, Anita Cassai |
| Siblings: | Aidan Cassai, Natalie Cassai |
| Spouse: | Max Sharrad (m. 2018) |
| Relationship: | Married |
| Children: | Florence Rosa |
| Occupation: | Chef, restaurateur, TV personality |
| Net Worth: | $1 million |
Early Life and Education
Laura Cassai was welcomed into the world on 18 February 1995 in Templestowe, Victoria, Australia. Of Italian-Australian origin and raised in a Christian household, she grew up in a close family shaped by the cooking of her nonna Maria and nonna Rosa, who taught her the traditions of Tuscany and Sicily from a young age.
She is the daughter of Sandro and Anita Cassai, and the sister of Aidan and Natalie, a family that later became central to the stories she told through her cooking.
Cassai attended Siena College in Camberwell, graduating in 2012, and then enrolled at Flinders University, where she completed the first year of a Bachelor of Health Science with plans to add a teaching degree.
During that first year she applied for MasterChef Australia while procrastinating over exams, a decision that redirected her life away from the classroom and into the professional kitchen.
Career
Laura Cassai began her career in 2014 as a nineteen-year-old health science student who applied for the sixth season of MasterChef Australia almost on impulse.
She quickly became a fan favorite for her instinctive Italian cooking, and she advanced to the grand final against Brent Owens, finishing as runner-up on 28 July 2014 with 80 points to his 83.
At nineteen she was the youngest contestant ever to reach a MasterChef grand final, and the exposure from the series introduced her to a national audience that responded to her warm on-screen presence and her deep grounding in family recipes.
Her career advanced immediately after the show when she reached out to judge Jock Zonfrillo and was hired as a junior chef at his three-hatted Restaurant Orana in Adelaide, where she worked as a pastry chef for two years.
She later moved to Andre’s Cucina & Polenta Bar under Andre Ursini and spent time at Hentley Farm in the Barossa Valley, rounding out her training across Italian and fine-dining kitchens.
In 2015 she published her debut cookbook, My Italian Kitchen: A Feast of Family Recipes, through Hardie Grant, featuring roughly seventy-five recipes that elevated the home-style dishes of her nonnas with modern technique.
In 2019 she became co-owner of Adelaide’s pasta bar Nido alongside her husband, Max Sharrad, and in 2021 the couple opened Fugazzi Bar & Dining, a New York-inspired Italo-American restaurant in the heart of the city.
In later years Cassai returned to MasterChef Australia for the twelfth season in 2020, finishing as runner-up for a second time, before completing her arc by winning the seventeenth season in 2025.
The victory came after a miscarriage in 2023 and the birth of her daughter Florence in April 2024, and she has spoken about missing small moments with her child during filming as motivation to finally take the title.
She continues to run Nido and Fugazzi with Max, appears as a guest chef and brand ambassador, and released the cookbook At My Nonna’s Table, an ode to her Italian grandmother.
Her career has moved from teenage television contestant to a settled place as one of Adelaide’s most recognized chef-restaurateurs, defined by her commitment to Italian family cooking and the mentorship of Jock Zonfrillo.
Social Media
- Instagram Handle: @laurasharrad
- Facebook Handle: @laurasharradchef
- Twitter/X Handle: @lauracassai
Personal Life
Laura Cassai is married to fellow chef Max Sharrad, whom she met while both were working at Jock Zonfrillo’s Restaurant Orana in Adelaide. The couple tied the knot in 2018, and in 2019 they became co-owners of the pasta bar Nido before opening Fugazzi Bar & Dining in 2021.
She and Max welcomed their daughter, Florence Rosa, in April 2024, after Cassai shared publicly that she had experienced a miscarriage in 2023.
Net Worth
Laura Cassai has an estimated net worth of around $1 million, built through a successful career as a chef, restaurateur, and television personality in Australia. Her primary income sources include her co-ownership of Nido and Fugazzi Bar & Dining, her MasterChef Australia earnings and prize money, her cookbook royalties from My Italian Kitchen and At My Nonna’s Table, brand ambassador roles, and television and media appearances.
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