The Waterline Restaurant executive chef Matt Smith says the shows have improved people's awareness of food.

Matt will be one of the professional cooks featured in the ABC's Australia Cooks cookbook which will be released early next year.

He says while he is not a fan of the reality cooking shows, they can only be a good thing for the industry.

"I don't find it relaxing to go home and watch people cooking on TV," he said with a laugh.

"I think diners expectations have risen, I think they have more of an awareness about cuisine, more of an awareness about new ingredients and trends that they wouldn't have had 10 years ago.

"There's certainly more of an interest in the average household in modern cuisine."

Matt says his family heritage has a lot to do with his love of experimenting with food.

"My sister is Sri Lankan, so we had a lot of Sri Lankan spices," he said of his adopted sibling.

"My mum would always make curries and things to help her adjust to this country, so having access to those things and also my sister having a passion for cooking, I guess we developed from an early age how to use those kinds of ingredients and how to experiment and combine those things to make a dish."

Originally from Cairns, Matt says he spent a couple of years in central Queensland before taking up his position at The Waterline in 2008.

"Now I'm part of the furniture," he joked.

"I've always liked Queensland's small beachside towns and waterside lifestyle," he added.

Central Queensland's food bowl

Matt says central Queensland is an ideal location for sourcing quality fresh produce because of the volcanic soils in the area.

"It allows for a whole multitude of fresh vegetables, citrus, we're next door to the ocean and the Great Barrier Reef, we have a lot of fresh seafood," he said.

He says they also source their own beef from his family's cattle property.

"I think it's important to have that link between knowing where your produce comes from and that relationship with your producers and growers," Matt said.

"it's a really important part of what I do because I like to know what's in season, what's affecting that crop or what's affecting the growth of this beef and how it gets to our plate."

Living the dream

Matt's restaurant kitchen overlooks the Rosslyn Bay Marina and, just beyond that, the southern Great Barrier Reef.

It is just another reason why Matt says he could not imagine doing anything else.

"I find what I experience in the kitchen hard to replicate," he said.

"I don't think there's anything else that could really challenge me, or give me instant satisfaction from creating something and seeing people enjoying it straight away."

Matt Smith is one of a number of Australian chefs who has contributed to the ABC's Australia Cooks cookbook which will be released in 2016.