By Paul Chai
Margaret River cafe on Bussell Highway.Credit: Tourism WA
A good dinner party is all about the right guests. When we arrive at Shelly Cove, a hidden beach on Bunker Point near Dunsborough, south of Perth, bracketed by limestone cliffs, the only clue to our pop-up dinner is small a wooden sign saying "Fervor". We follow a winding path down to the beach, where a long table is set up on the point overlooking the scoop of sand. The dark table is decorated with candles, sea shells and sprigs of fresh saltbush.
We are greeted with a gin, tonic and fresh bush lime while at the nearby chef's station a sous chef is torching local whiting basted in myrtle oil – it is served alongside canapes of cured wallaby, crispy saltbush and thin slivers of emu chorizo served on a pile of local stones.
But we are not the only ones dining here. As the sun sets we can see the black silhouettes of fur seals slipping in and out of the inky water, chasing their evening meal. These unexpected guests lift what is already a memorable, quintessential Margaret River moment – and we have yet to sit down to eat.
Bunker Bay at sunset. Credit: Alamy
When we do take a seat we dine on quandong four ways – fresh, pureed, macerated and powdered – South Hampton Muscovy duck eaten from a rock scavenged from the water's edge and sunrise lime sorbet, soured cream, Geraldton wax oil and tyrant ants. But the dish of the night is the Yallingup marron, with a marron emulsion and sea salt made by dehydrating Injidup seawater. You take the marron tail, slide it through the emulsion and sea salt by hand and pop it in your mouth. Simple. Delicious. This last dish seemed like the perfect summation of a week of dining along the coast of Margaret River, a place where the love of the ocean seems to infuse the cuisine to a degree not seen elsewhere along the myriad coasts of our continent.
Call it big wave dining, surfer cuisine, or – as one of my colleagues punned mercilessly – "the life of brine" but the waves of the Margaret River beaches seem to crash right onto the table of its restaurants.
Fervor, Australian pop-up dining is the creation of chef Paul Iskov, who is licensed to forage for native ingredients along the coast of Margaret River, so much of what we had eaten comes just a few hundred metres from where we sat.
Seared scallops, surf clams, bouillabaisse flavours at Vasse Felix.Credit: Tourism WA
"I was walking past all these amazing herbs and plants for so long not knowing they were edible and there's an abundance and a right time to pick them and they are really good for you so we should be eating them," Iskov says.
The chef, also a keen surfer, spends the year travelling the length of the state following the produce. "When quandongs are in season we head to the wheat belt and when the boabs are ripe we go up to Broome," he says.
Further down the Margaret River coast, Tony Howell is the executive chef of Margaret River Hospitality Group and, over a breakfast chat at his White Elephant Beach Cafe that overlooks the Gnarabup Beach Boat Ramp, he says he often quite literally puts the sea into his cooking.
"We will scoop up a bucket of seawater to cook the prawns and seafood in so you keep that ocean flavour, it's better than cooking in fresh water," Howell says. "It makes great brine, too, we brine our meat using the ocean water."
But sometimes it comes at a cost. "I recently sent an apprentice down to get some seawater from the boat ramp – around the deep end so you don't get sand in it – and the poor kid fell in," Howell laughs.
Annually, this collision of sea and food is celebrated at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape which, in the 2015 edition, saw Marco Pierre White storm offstage during a Q&A and Rick and Jack Stein present a degustation menu of seafood on the two-kilometre-long Busselton Jetty. And it is this roster of visiting chefs that Howell credits with making the area such a foodie destination.
"The young chefs in the area get to meet their heroes and then they get to produce recipes that these guys send," says Howell, "And so you get to play with their food and think, 'That's a good idea'. I've always welcomed guest chefs wherever I have worked because no matter who you are you always pick up a good idea. If you don't you're not paying attention."
Howell, who took UK mad-scientist-chef Heston Blumenthal surfing when he was at the Gourmet Escape a few years ago, says the international chefs come to the region for not only the coastal beauty but the fresh produce straight from the ocean.
"When Rene Redzepi [Danish chef from Noma] was over I took him in the cool room and he started opening boxes, the way chefs do," Howell smiles. "I showed him the marron and the dhufish and he was blown away by how fresh it was."
Howell and his team operate the White Elephant as well as Morries Anytime in Margaret River village and The Common at Margarets Beach Resort all of which have a relaxed, beachy feel.
It was surfing that drew Vasse Felix executive chef Aaron Carr to Margaret River, a move that saw him win the Western Australian Good Food Guide's chef of the year last year. Carr says that with so many chefs being drawn to the area for the lifestyle, not just the food, it creates a sense of community where everyone looks out for each other.
"Now we have this amazing brand of Margaret River which we are all ambassadors for – whether you are in food or wine-making or doing tours through a cave, everyone is in charge of the brand," he says.
Vasse Felix is the region's founding wine estate and the sprawling grounds are home to a huge cellar door where Carr and his team are inspired not only by the fresh produce, but the ever-changing wine vintages.
When you leave a pop-up dinner at Fervor, Paul Iskov hands you a small hessian pouch. In it is Fervor Tea that might be a mix of lemon myrtle, lilly pilly or blood lime, your evening's menu and some seeds from the Albany bottlebrush. Iskov suggests you plant the seeds on behalf on Fervor wherever you call home.
A week in the Margaret River plants a seed too, one that germinates and keeps telling you have to get back to this perfect collision of waves and fine-dining cuisine.
TRIP NOTES
MORE INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
Qantas (qantas.com), Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Tigerair all fly to Perth from the eastern states. The Margaret River region is about 3.5 hours drive south of Perth along the Bussell Highway. Regional carrier Skywest flies to Margaret River from Perth.
STAYING THERE
Darby Park serviced residences in the Margaret River village makes a great, hassle-free base for exploring the region. Doubles start from $172, Bussell Hwy, Margaret River; darbypark.com.au.
EATING THERE
Fervor pop-up dining puts on year-round events from Margaret River to Broome. Visit fervor.com.au for more information. White Elephant Beach Cafe is the perfect place for a fry up overlooking the beach at Gnarabup Road, Margaret River; whiteelephantcafe.com.au. For a beachy bistro vibe, grab lunch at The Common, Margarets Beach Resort, 1 Resort Pl, Margaret River, thecommonbistro.com.au. Try wine tasting, or a meal, at the oldest winery in Margaret River, Vasse Felix, Tom Cullity Dr, Cowaramup; vassefelix.com.au. The Margaret River Gourmet Escape takes place each year in November, visit gourmetescape.com.au for information on 2016 tickets and events.
Paul Chai was a guest of Tourism Western Australia.
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