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Dan the Canteen Man: My Tuckshop Rules

From reality TV fame and travelling the world, to the four walls of the Fraser Coast Anglican College tuckshop, former My Kitchen Rules winner, Dan Mulheron has finally found his true calling.

For the past 10 years, life for Dan and his wife Steph, has been hectic to say the least.

After being crowned the MKR winners in 2013, a whirlwind journey began. They set up their first restaurant in Hervey Bay, EAT at Dan & Steph’s, hosted their own travel show, published two cookbooks, ‘EAT @ Home’ and ‘Meat & Sweet’, and most special of all, welcomed their daughter Emmy.

After selling their restaurant in late 2023, Dan took on a job at the local RSL, and Steph jumped into real estate.

But the Business Manager at Fraser Coast Anglican College had different plans for Dan.

Having used Dan and Steph’s restaurant for school catering over the years, the local celebrity chef’s name was the first to come to mind to take over running the canteen when the long-time convenor took some extended long-service leave.

While the timings didn’t work out initially, when the convenor ended up retiring, the school made Dan an offer too good to refuse.

“Initially I was going to step out of the kitchen and move into management. Then I met with the school, and Steph and I went through the pros and cons… and there were no cons,” Dan explained.

“They were keen to take a new approach and do more cooking in-house, so I couldn’t pass it up.

“The 14 weeks of holidays a year was also a selling point. Working in the hospitality industry I have never had Christmas holidays, so it was a great opportunity for my family.

“Also, unlike in hospitality, when I leave in the afternoon I get left alone. Nobody is ringing me, and suppliers aren’t on my back. It’s a welcome change.”

Dan threw himself into the role from day one. He has put procedures in place, improved workflow, costed menu items accurately, and has created a dream team in Kirsty and Deb.

“Kirsty and I are both full time and we get on so well. Deb is a pocket rocket and works 8am ‘til noon, Monday to Friday and just never stops! I’d have ten of her,” Dan said

“We’re all go go go… but it’s taken time. I couldn’t just come in here and say, “you’re doing this and you’re doing that”, because these guys had been here for a long time,” Dan said.

“Over the ten years of managing people, you get to understand how people operate. And once you work them out, it gets easier.

“Kristy and Deb have their own menu item each week. Kirsty does a salad of the week, and Deb will do a dessert of the week. They absolutely love it.

“They both watch MKR and the day after each episode I get peppered with questions. I blew their minds when I told them they film two different endings.

The canteen services the entire 900-student strong college and is open five days a week for breakfast and lunch. The junior school uses My School Connect to order online, and the senior school, self-serve. Kindy students are also able to access a special menu on Wednesdays and Fridays.

“Fridays are without a doubt our busiest day. We’ll prepare 400-500 meals on a Friday. The kids can’t get enough,” Dan said.

So, what spoils do the kids enjoy from one of the town’s most notable cooks?

“I make a mean Bolognese, and the kids absolutely love it. We used to do it with a spiral pasta, and we would go through around 5kg of that pasta a day. Just by switching to penne, which is a bigger cut of pasta, we’ve basically cut the serving size in half. It still looks big, but there’s a lot less pasta to it,” Dan explained.

“I made the pizza sauce for our Pizza Tuesdays from scratch, using a lot of herbs from the school garden.

“I also do a lot of pulled pork… pulled pork and gravy rolls, pork and salad wraps, etc. I mean who doesn’t like pulled pork? You can do anything with it…burgers, wraps, salads, nachos, anything Mexican.

“Before I leave of an afternoon, I’ll put it on and leave it overnight and then pull it in the morning.

“I slow cook everything. I have the kitchen working for me when I’m not even there.

“We also do a daily special and a weekly special, which my team comes up with. It keeps it interesting… and uses everything up!”

Unlike hospitality, the timeframes in a canteen can prove a challenge, but it’s one Dan has taken in his stride.

“I enjoy the tight timeframes. You need a lot of food prepared in advance and everything must be timed. It needs to go out fresh, so the kids enjoy it,” Dan said.

“Working out how to get fresh produce on the menu in such a large volume, without having to get in at 4am, is something I’ll be working on more next year.

“I also really care about shopping local. I stay away from the big chains and source from local suppliers. I want to do well, and I want the canteen to do well.”

When asked if he has any regrets about leaving the hospitality industry for the local school, Dan’s response was concrete.

“100% this was the right move. It’s the best job I’ve had to be honest. My wife said I’m a different person. I’ve always had a bit of a short fuse. I have no worries anymore. I’m not worried about my staff members turning up. They all love coming to work.

“All the local chefs are now even trying to get in on the canteen gig now.

“I would be so happy if this was my last job. 100%.”

Daily Specials

  • Monday – Mexican (tacos, burritos or nachos)
  • Tuesday – Pizza – Veggie, BBQ Chicken and Ham and Pineapple.
  • Wednesday – Chicken Wings
  • Thursday – Sushi
  • Friday – Loaded Spuds
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