Rockpool head chef Brendan Owens to collaborate with Ampersand Estate for gourmet burger weekend

One of the Lower South West’s rising-star estates is teaming up with a culinary master once again, this time for a weekend-long event of gourmet burgers, boutique gin and award-winning wine.

This weekend Pemberton winery Ampersand Estates will host Rockpool Bar and Grill head chef Brendan Owens as he personally prepares gourmet burgers to pair with the estate’s gin and wines.

Mr Owens said he would be plating up Rockpool’s classic cheeseburger, the “simple and delicious” dish made from locally sourced beef.

This is the second food event Mr Owens has prepared with the estate, creating a decadent dinner feast from Abrolhos’ scallops and Blackwood ribeye at Ampersand’s Truffles at Twilight event in June.

He said Southern Forests produce was one of the major reasons he kept coming back.

“When it comes down to the produce down there, all year around, there’s something amazing going on and there’s things we can’t get anywhere else, and every season seems to run later with the cooler climate,” he said.

“We get some beef sourced from Blackwood Valley Beef, peaches from down there later in the season, truffles from Coomers, ducks and so much more that we can get.”

Although open from 11am to 6pm, it will be first in best dressed for the gourmet burgers.

“When we run out, we run out,” Mr Owens said.

Ampersand Estate co-owner Corrie Scheepers said the weekend was a great way for Mr Owens and the Rockpool restaurant to promote the Southern Forests region and bring the Rockpool experience..

“This is his way of promoting our region and enjoying the beautiful produce our region has,” he said.

“For those of us who live in the Southern Forests region, it’s a very expensive exercise to go to Rockpool in Perth, so he wants to bring something light over the weekend at Ampersand.”

Mr Scheepers said the event would help give the Southern Forests produce and attractions the recognition they deserved.

“It will be amazing to have the community out there, showcased and proud that some of the best chefs in the country, who chose the Southern Forests, are choosing to recognise our community and the hard work that they are doing,” he said.

“Getting behind something like that is such a big impact to our community and every time we do things like that and people get behind it, we drive more tourism to the area, we drive more contracts with local suppliers to the area, so it’s such a big impact.”