Brendan Pratt joins Wayfinder ahead of new Margaret River restaurant opening

The former Vasse Felix head chef will oversee Wayfinder’s two restaurants as its new winery, farm and cellar door prepares to open in the Margaret River region this August

Brendan Pratt has joined Wayfinder as executive chef, taking responsibility for its existing Wine Bar & Restaurant in Dunsborough and a new farm-driven restaurant opening in Cowaramup.

Wayfinder Winery & Farm is scheduled to open in August, bringing together an off-grid winery, cellar door, restaurant and expanded one-acre market garden.

The appointment puts Brendan back into a winery restaurant setting after previously leading the kitchen at Vasse Felix and working as culinary director across Parker Group’s Western Australian venues.

At Wayfinder, his role will span two restaurants with different locations but a shared approach to seasonal produce, wine and the estate’s growing farm operation.

A role across two restaurants

Wayfinder already operates its Wine Bar & Restaurant in Dunsborough, which is supplied with herbs, leafy greens, heirloom vegetables and edible flowers from the estate garden.

The new restaurant will take that relationship further.

Its menus will be built around what is growing on the property, alongside honey and lamb produced on the farm and ingredients sourced from Western Australian producers.

Guests will be able to choose between à la carte and tasting menus, with a more relaxed food offer planned for the lawn outside.

For Brendan, the wider role involves establishing the new kitchen while also overseeing food at the existing Dunsborough venue.

That gives the position a broader operational focus than leading one restaurant. The menus need to share a clear connection to Wayfinder without simply repeating each other across two sites.

Back in the Margaret River region

Brendan joined Vasse Felix as head chef in 2017, developing menus around the winery’s range and the produce available throughout the Margaret River region.

In 2021, he was named Regional Chef of the Year by the WA Good Food Guide. Vasse Felix was also named Restaurant of the Year.

Before returning to Western Australia, Brendan trained in London kitchens including The Fat Duck and The Ledbury.

He left Vasse Felix in 2023 and became culinary director of Parker Group, overseeing food across venues including The Royal, Fleur, The Standard and Busselton Pavilion.

That role took him from a single fine-dining restaurant into a group operating across different formats, service styles and price points.

Wayfinder brings those two parts of his experience together. He returns to a produce-led winery setting, but with responsibility extending across more than one restaurant.

Building the menu around the garden

The existing Wayfinder garden supplies its Dunsborough kitchen and is now being expanded into a full acre of growing space.

The new garden includes more than 40 no-dig beds, two polytunnels, a greenhouse, perennial growing areas and a netted orchard with more than 80 fruit trees.

It will produce heirloom vegetables, herbs, leafy greens, edible flowers and fruit for the restaurants.

For the kitchen, access to that produce creates an opportunity to develop dishes around ingredients grown specifically for the menu.

It also requires flexibility.

A working garden does not deliver every ingredient in a fixed quantity or according to a restaurant’s preferred timeline. The kitchen needs to respond to what is ready, use periods of abundance well and preserve produce when supply exceeds immediate demand.

Close planning between Brendan, head market gardener Amy Dyson and their teams will be central to making the relationship work.

The garden follows seasonal crop rotation and uses cover crops and no-dig beds.

Wayfinder’s farm and vineyard are certified organic, with regenerative practices also used across the wider property.

Connecting the kitchen and winery

The restaurant will operate alongside Wayfinder’s new winery and cellar door.

The full wine range will be available by the glass and through tasting flights, making the relationship between the food and wine teams a central part of the restaurant.

The winery itself was completed in January ahead of the 2026 vintage. It is built into an old turkey-nest dam, using the surrounding land for thermal stability and a multilevel layout to move fruit and juice through production using gravity.

Solar panels provide its energy, allowing the winery to operate off-grid.

Those elements give the new restaurant a clear starting point, but its identity will ultimately depend on how the kitchen translates them into the food.

Brendan’s appointment gives Wayfinder a chef with experience in winery dining, high-end restaurant kitchens and multi-venue operations as it prepares to open the new site.

Wayfinder Winery & Farm is scheduled to open in the Margaret River region in August 2026.