WAGFG Award-winning chef Jessica Roe is bringing one of Western Australia’s most extraordinary dining experiences to life at this year’s Gascoyne Food Festival.
Fresh from being named the 2026 West Australian Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year, Roe will lead the culinary experience at the Plantation Feast, a long table lunch for just 200 guests set amongst the mango trees of a working Carnarvon plantation.
More than a long lunch, the Plantation Feast has become the signature event of the Gascoyne Food Festival and one of regional Western Australia’s most sought-after dining experiences, celebrating the people, produce and landscapes that make the region one of Australia’s most compelling food destinations.
Showcasing the remarkable produce of the Gascoyne, the menu will feature seafood landed from local waters, premium regional lamb, tropical fruit harvested from local plantations and vegetables grown in one of Australia’s most productive food bowls. Paired with premium Western Australian wines and local craft beverages and enjoyed beneath the shade of the orchard, the experience offers a rare opportunity to dine at the source alongside the growers, fishers and producers whose stories are woven through every course.
Ahead of the Gascoyne Food Festival, Roe spoke about the inspiration behind the menu and what guests can expect when they take their seat beneath the magical mango trees. Tickets to this event are available here.
Jess, you won the 2026 West Australian Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year Award. Congratulations again. What did that mean to you as a chef?
Thank you so much. It honestly came as such a shock to me and has really taken this year on a completely different path than I expected.
For me, it meant showing my team that it isn’t always about being flashy and extravagant with what you do, but how much you can achieve by honouring yourself and your values. It also made me step back and appreciate the path I have travelled so far to get here. Sometimes we don’t stop to look back, reflect and appreciate enough of what we have already achieved.
For me, it didn’t only open the door to a lot of amazing opportunities but hopefully shows other young chefs that you don’t have to come from a fancy background or kitchen, and that it’s about taking every opportunity to learn instead of waiting for the learning to come to you.
You’re cooking the Plantation Feast in a working mango orchard. What does that setting change about how you write the menu?
The whole point of this Gascoyne Food Festival, and the Plantation Feast for me, is to pay homage to our hardworking farmers and suppliers, and to let the food tell a story about their produce and dedication. When given the option of plated or family style, family style was always going to be the way. This lunch is meant to be a time of connection, storytelling and abundance. I took a very clean approach to making this menu, making sure the food was relatable and approachable, elevated but not pretentious, and allowed the produce to tell its own story.
What is it about Gascoyne produce specifically that sets it apart from what you’d get further south?
With the array of environments we have across our whole amazing State, we are privileged to have so much available at all times. I don’t think enough people know that the Gascoyne region produces such a large amount of our State’s fresh fruit and vegetables, an extraordinary 70 to 80 per cent. The terrain across this amazing region gives us a privilege not many other states, let alone countries, have: the ability to produce such an array of fruit and vegetables as well as cattle and meat. This region is always fighting for top place in everyone’s holiday plans, but has so much more of a story to tell if people let it.
For someone considering a trip to Carnarvon for the Plantation Feast, what can they experience that they can’t get in a restaurant?
You can dine in restaurants every week, but very few people get the opportunity to sit beneath the mango trees where the produce is grown, share a table with the growers, fishers and producers behind the menu, and experience that connection between food, place and people. The setting is extraordinary, but it’s the stories behind the food that make the experience truly unique.
The Plantation Feast also brings together local producers, volunteers and emerging hospitality talent. What does it mean to be part of an event that leaves a legacy beyond the lunch itself?
One of the things that attracted me to the Gascoyne Food Festival was its commitment to the region and the people who live here. Food events can do more than create a great experience for guests; they can inspire the next generation of chefs, hospitality workers and producers. I’m looking forward to spending time with local students, sharing knowledge where I can, and contributing to something that creates opportunities and pride within the community as well as an incredible dining experience.
The menu moves between mango, prawns, snapper and lamb. Is there one ingredient on this menu you built the whole day around?
Every dish has a feature ingredient, from white asparagus and Spanish mackerel to lamb and black sapote. But there were two key ingredients I built the menu around: mango and banana.
Mango opens and closes the menu, to encompass the beautiful location where our guests will be having lunch. And banana to pay homage to the previous year’s Plantation Feast, which took place in a local banana plantation, and to what Carnarvon is most known for.
You’re cooking for 200 guests at a single table in the middle of a working mango plantation. What excites you most about that challenge?
The scale is exciting, but it’s really the setting that inspires me. We’re creating a restaurant quality dining experience in the middle of a working mango plantation, surrounded by the people who grow and produce the ingredients. There are very few opportunities as a chef to cook in a setting like this, and that’s what makes the challenge so special.
What do you want someone eating this menu under the mango trees to walk away understanding about the region?
The abundance and depth that reaches far beyond the amazing beaches and camping the region has to offer: the people, its stories, and the dedication behind the produce they put on their tables every day.
If you had to describe Gascoyne produce in one line to someone who has never been there, what would you say?
Abundant, resilient and adaptable. It sees some of the harshest climates, but in one way or another, Gascoyne produce prevails and provides.
What made you say yes when you were invited to cook the Plantation Feast?
The opportunity to showcase one of Western Australia’s most remarkable food regions was impossible to pass up. The Gascoyne has an incredible produce story, and being able to create a menu that celebrates the growers, fishers and producers of the region in such an extraordinary setting was something I wanted to be part of.
If someone only attends one food event in Western Australia this year, why should it be the Plantation Feast?
Because it offers something you simply can’t recreate anywhere else. You’re dining in the heart of a working mango plantation, eating produce grown and harvested in the region, sharing the experience with the people who produced it, and enjoying a menu designed exclusively for that place and that moment. It’s not just a long lunch: it’s an immersion into the food, stories and landscapes of the Gascoyne.
You’ll be cooking with growers and producers sitting amongst the guests. How does that change the way you think about the food you’re serving?
There is an immense pressure to pay respect to the growers and producers whose food I will be using. They are doing their part, providing their hard work to this event, and making sure the dishes presented in front of them do them proud will be a great achievement.
You’re cooking at one of the Gascoyne Food Festival’s signature events. What do you hope guests are talking about on their drive home?
I hope they’re talking about the people they met, the stories they heard and the produce they tasted. Most of all, I hope they leave with a deeper appreciation of the Gascoyne and a desire to come back and explore more of the region.
Getting There
The Plantation Feast is an easy weekend escape from Perth. Rex Airlines operates direct flights from Perth to Carnarvon in just over two hours, making it possible to swap the city for swaying palms, blue skies and long-table dining in the heart of the Gascoyne with minimal travel time.For those who enjoy a road trip, Kalbarri makes the perfect overnight stop along the way. Whether you fly or drive, the journey is part of the adventure, with stunning coastal landscapes, wildflower country and some of Western Australia’s most unique food-producing regions waiting to be discovered.
Event Details
Saturday 22nd August | 11:30am to 3:30pm
Tickets are strictly limited to just 200 guests and have sold out quickly in previous years. Secure yours now HERE.