Gourmet extravaganza honours Blumenthal

Superstar chef Heston Blumenthal was officially recognised by his peers as an icon chef at a glittering dinner ceremony at Margaret River's Voyager Estate winery last night.

Blumenthal was to have been at the dinner, but returned to Britain on Thursday after the death of two of his young chefs in a traffic accident in Hong Kong.

	Heston Blumenthal.

The dinner in his honour was cooked by chefs Neil Perry, Tetsuya Wakuda and Rene Redzepi.

The dinner was one of scores of activities attached to the inaugural Margaret River Gourmet Escape, which has attracted strong public support and critical acclaim from the bevy of international and national star chefs.

"You sort of pinch yourself," MasterChef Australia star George Calombaris said.

"There are people you've looked up to for a long time. You read about them, get inspired by them, learn from them," Calombaris said.

The paying public can brush up against stars like Norwegian chef Rene Redzepi, New York chef David Chang and Australians Peter Gilmore, Kylie Kwong and Tetsuya Wakuda at "Chef's Table" events over the weekend. Event creator Michael Hodgson, says the event has already been a success.

"Many of the events were instant sellouts," Mr Hodgson said. "We are shooting a six episode series for UKTV's Food Channel with local chef Matt Stone.

"The entire series centres on the Margaret River region and its producers and will be aired to 20 million households across Europe."

The visiting chefs have been universal in their praise of the region's produce, particularly its seafood. "The marron here is the best freshwater crustacean in the world," chef David Chang said.

Chang, whose unique Korean American food at his Momofuku restaurant in New York has brought him international success, says he wished he could use more kangaroo on his menu after eating a kangaroo tail stew cooked by local chef Tony Howell.

WA Tourism Minister Dr Kim Hames confirmed yesterday that a combination of Royalties for Regions and WA Tourism funding will be made available for the event for at least the next four years.

Veteran surfer Evan Gray, of Dunsborough, was swept up by a wave of celeberity chefs when he came out of the surf at Smith's Beach near Margaret River. Pictured are Rene Redzepi, Evan Gray, Russell Blaikie, Kylie Kwong, George Calombaris, Sat Bains and Matt Stone. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian

Source: The West Australian, 24 November 2012