Netflix star and Argentine cooking sensation Francis Mallmann will headline an international food, wine and music festival taking over Western Australia’s Margaret River Region in November.
“I’m a cook that uses cooking to send this message of a way of living,” Mallmann says in his episode of Chef’s Table, the groundbreaking series that has shifted the goalposts for food documentaries.
“I’m always cooking in remote places. In the wild. With fires. So my message is get out of your chair. Get out of your sofa. Get out of your office. And go out.”
Eaters will have many reasons to get out of whatever they’re sitting in when Mallman (temporarily) swaps the comfort of his home in Argentina’s remote Patagonia region for the white sands and towering karri forests of Margaret River and, more specifically, the good times of the Pair’d Margaret River festival from November 20-23.
After making its debut in 2024, Pair’d has upped the ante for its sophomore festival, not least by snaring the signature of the cook hailed by many as “the godfather of open-fire cooking”. (You know you’ve made it as a barbecue cook when “Mallmann grill” becomes global shorthand for any towering, parilla-style grill used to prepare meat in the Argentine asado style.)
But while lighting barbies chimes with Margaret River’s reputation for bare-foot coastal cool, it’s just one facet of a far-reaching program that also touches on First Nations storytelling, nose-to-tailfin fish cooking, Asian hawker culture, a good many DJs, even more bottles of fine wine, plus an installation exploring where the worlds of wine and sound art intersect.
In short, this year’s Pair’d program bangs and, like they say in the classics, has something for everyone: local or out-of-towner; wine geek or music lover; enthusiastic home cook or globally lauded barbecue chef.
Here’s a cheat sheet detailing who’s who among the international guests heading this way in November and what they’ll be doing.
Francis Mallmann (Argentina)
Despite owning restaurants across the Americas and Europe, Mallmann chooses to spend most of his time at his private island in Patagonia where he hosts small-group culinary escapes that celebrate cooking over fire and experiencing Argentina’s natural beauty. For his West Australian debut, Mallmann will join the stacked line-up of Burnt Ends & Friends at Wills Domain: a fire-forward feast organised by Perth-born Dave Pynt of Singapore’s Michelin-starred Burnt Ends.
Joining Mallmann, Pynt and Wills’ duo Jed Gerrard and Sergio Labbe will be New Zealand-born chef, YouTuber and cookbook author Andy Cooks (his mother calls him Andy Hearnden) and the crew from hatted Perth barbecue restaurant Big Don’s Smoked Meats. Expect this to sell out fast.
Julien Royer (Singapore)
Born into a fourth-generation farming family in France’s Auvergne region, Julien Royer is the chef-patron of Odette, the Singapore National Gallery’s three-Michelin-starred, World’s 50 Best-lauded modern French dining room. For his Pair’d debut, Royer is joining forces with pioneering Margaret River winery Vasse Felix and working with head chef Cam Jones to serve a four-course dinner paired with rare museum wines.
Nathan Outlaw (England)
As you’d expect of a former alum of fish whisperer Rick Stein, Nathan Outlaw knows a thing or two about fish, as demonstrated by the Michelin star that’s been awarded to both Outlaw’s New Road and Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen. His CV makes Outlaw a great fit for Voyager Estate’s seafood dinner that also stars Josh Niland of the three-hatted fish fantasia that is Sydney’s Saint Peter, plus Voyager’s head chef Travis Crane.
Jo Burzynska (New Zealand)
Artist. Wine writer. Independent perfumier: doctor Jo Burzynska’s diverse CV denotes her as one of the festival’s more unique talents. (This after all, is a woman that helped establish the world’s first sound and wine bar.) For Pair’d, she’ll be recording the world’s first sonic landscape inspired by a region’s terroir and signature wines. You can hear this soundscape at both the New Wave Gathering and The Grand Tasting as well as Nature’s Table, a long table lunch celebrating indigenous culture.
ArChan Chan (Hong Kong)
Although she’s back in her native Hong Kong, ArChan Chan spent her formative years in Australia including a stint as head chef at Melbourne’s Ricky & Pink, the one-time Chinese restaurant within Andrew McConnell’s Builders Arms Hotel. The head chef of Ho Lee Fook and author of Hong Kong Local (Smith Street Books, $39.99) will bring her Hong Kongese sensibilities to Night Hawker at Chow’s Table: a one-night Asian street food party featuring Victor Liong of Melbourne’s Lee Ho Fook and Chow’s Table head chef, Mal Chow.
Rishi Naleendra (Singapore)
Whether he’s repping his Sri Lankan heritage at Kotuwa in Singapore’s New Bahru precinct or going big on technique at two Michelin-starred fine diner Cloudstreet, Rishi Naleendra keeps it delicious. A product of Sydney’s vaunted Tetsuya’s, Naleendra will team up with Evan Hayter of Margaret River’s special-occasion-ready de’sendent and presenting their shared vision of contemporary Australian cooking over two dinners.
Dave Pynt (Singapore)
Reprising his appearance at last year’s Pair’d, Perth-born Dave Pynt hasn’t just organised a serious contender for barbecue line-up of the year, the firebrand behind Singapore’s Michelin-starred Burnt Ends will also cook an intimate wine dinner celebrating the region’s finest bottles.
Tom Parker Bowles (United Kingdom)
Between his nine cookbooks, cameo appearances on MasterChef UK and work as a contributing editor to various publications, Tom Parker Bowles spends a lot of time thinking about food and wine. Fans of Parker Bowles work can catch his live show when he appears at The Grand Tasting and New Wave Gathering.
Pair’d Margaret Riverruns from November 20 to 23. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Wednesday July 16.
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Max Veenhuyzen is a journalist and photographer who has been writing about food, drink and travel for national and international publications for more than 20 years. He reviews restaurants for the Good Food Guide.
