Margaret River Gourmet Escape launches tonight at Castle Rock Beach with the world’s best chef, food and wine critics and the who’s who of Australian TV cooking celebrities. The event checklist for an extraordinary festival of food and wine goes something like this….stunning Your Margaret River Region location – tick, world class set up – tick, amazing local wines and craft beers – tick, celebrity guest list…Marco Pierre White, Rick Stein – tick and the most vital ingredient of the lot is, incredible fresh seasonal produce – tick! And you guessed it, the amazing fresh fruit and vegetable produce that will have mouths watering as the canape platters float past is care of The Garden Basket service and delivery. We are the chef’s choice for fresh, quality South West and Western Australian speciality and organic produce and we could not be more proud or at the ready for more than 16 of the best restaurants across this mammoth feasting weekend.
Tonight’s official launch will kick off a weekend of gourmet extravagance like no other but without the months, weeks and final last few days of consultation with chefs on menu’s, local farmers on harvest times and drivers on truck delivery logistics there would be no party. Hats off to all the local chef’s ordering ingredients for their international and east coast guest chefs, it will soon be worth it as you share the kitchen experience, stage or demonstration table. The produce is exploding with flavour and colour so we can’t imagine how your creativity will transform it into dishes to die for.
We have been told this festival is about showcasing the pristine environment of Australia’s South West and the incredible diversity of gourmet food and wine experiences for visitors to the region. No doubt it will. Travel is about experience and through the indulgence of flavours there is always a thread back to everyday stories of paddock to plate, farmer to shop and grower to market businesses that do this all year round. It is what they live for. It is their passion and their bread and butter. The Margaret River Gourmet Escape festival is an amazing platform to showcase these stories to the world. It is what the festival is about; the farmers, the planters, the pickers, the drivers and everyone in between. It is a celebration of relationships, friendships, flavours and fun.
However whether you make it to a Margaret River Gourmet Escape event or the Gourmet Village festival at Leeuwin Estate (which we hope you do) or not, remember that Margaret River and the South West can inspire the gourmet foodie in all of us anytime of the year. Just drop in-store at The Garden Basket for quality, in-season, low food mile fruit and vege and shop where the world bests chefs buy their ingredients from.