Australia’s reputation for indigenous exclusivity is hard to match.

It also explains why the country’s food festivals are so admired; and why many of the world’s best chefs are so enamoured with the opportunity to fly Down Under to be part of the third instalment of the Margaret River Gourmet Escape next month.

A mere three-hour drive south of Perth, the three-day extravaganza (Nov 21 to 23), promises to be a jam-packed culinary adventure showcasing the best of Western Australian produce through an inspired line up of over 30 international and local food and wine experts.

It’s a trip even a well-travelled chef like Singapore’s Sam Leong — who will be making his debut appearance at the event — is excited to savour.

“I am especially looking forward to meeting the wine-makers and learning how to pair (my) food with (their) wines,” Leong shared.

The veteran chef, whose trendsetting modern-Chinese cuisine style has made headlines here, will be collaborating with Voyager Estate’s head chef Nigel Harvey for an East Meets West Dinner at the winery presented by Singapore Airlines.

And the dish he’s most excited to present is the ubiquitous wasabi prawns.

“I created this dish 25 years ago and it’s a classic. I can’t wait to share its delicate flavours, with its hint of intensity from the wasabi, with diners,” Leong said, adding that he will be dishing out his style of cuisine as opposed to placing a huge focus on Singapore flavours. “Singapore is such a melting pot of diverse flavours and cuisines that it’s challenging to present all of it!”

But whatever the task, working with readily available quality ingredients only makes the job easier. “Because the ingredients are extremely fresh and retain their natural juices, they require less seasoning. I don’t need to think so hard about how to work with these ingredients.”

On the other hand, Chef Clare Smyth, the United Kingdom’s first and only female chef to head a three-Michelin-star restaurant hasn’t quite decided what she’ll be presenting. Her steep rise to Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay has been a talking point, but Smyth was quick to play down her achievements.

“I don’t feel it has anything to do with being a female — I probably did the same as any other chef at my level in their career. I put in the hours, concentrated on my technique, researched and read, then practiced, practiced and practiced more. I was just extremely passionate about getting it right and being the best I could be,” she said.

“There are few festivals anywhere like Margaret River Gourmet Escape that manage to combine great local produce with such globally renowned chefs and a well-informed public,” she added. “There’s nothing to beat a bunch of like-minded people getting together to eat and drink.”

Chef Heston Blumenthal, who’ll be making his second appearance at Margaret River agreed. “You are really hard pressed to find an event that is as much pure fun (as this one),” he said.

It says a lot, coming from someone who has earned a rep for thriving on the esoteric. But the chef who made snail porridge a fine dining staple has another reason to revel in Australia’s booming dining scene — his restaurant The Fat Duck will open in Melbourne “soon after” the Margaret River event.

“Every year is different as it’s a different line-up of chefs and events ... it will be an entirely different energy,” Blumenthal explained. “I’ll be participating in a couple of panel discussions, talking about the gastronomic topics of today, giving an insight into just how it is that we are relocating The Fat Duck halfway across the globe, and batting the hard questions that will be pitched to me.”

Blumenthal said his team will be joining him in Australia, including Ashley Palmer-Watts, the executive chef of The Fat Duck Group who heads Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, and Jonny Lake, the head chef of The Fat Duck. “It will be nice to have the team around. And of course this is the first year we are doing a Fat Duck dish: The botrytis (cinerea) dessert.”

For chef Massimo Bottura, whose Modena restaurant earned its third Michelin star in 2011 and is currently at No 3 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (it has been the highest ranking Italian restaurant for six years), Margaret River represents a wealth of inspiration.

“I’ve never been to the Margaret River Wine Region before, so I am expecting to discover many things,” he said. “Heston is such an inspiration and I am very much looking forward to spending time with him. I still remember when he came to Osteria Francescana while working on his book In Search Of Perfection. He wanted to film our Tagliatelle al Ragu recipe — he wasn’t looking for my grandmother’s recipe but an avant-garde version.

“Unlike so many others, he understood how important it is for traditions to continue to evolve,” he added. “I am looking forward to seeing him again. When I left the kitchen of el Bulli at the end of the 2000, Ferran Adria said to me, ‘Cook your ideas, Massimo’. And no matter where I find myself in the world, this is what I do.”

Stand a chance to win a travel package for two (worth more than S$3,000) to the 2014 Margaret River Gourmet Escape, including a pair of tickets to four events. All you have to do is visit http://tdy.sg/margaretescape and answer a simple question. Closing date is Nov 2.