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CoOK ISLANDS SuN
D ining and E ntertainment
Relish Raro Flambé sets Rarotonga alight! rown Breach Resort C and Spa’s muchanticipated Flambé Restaurant opened its doors in May to the beat of drums, fire dancing and spectacular fireworks.
Asked about the origin of the name and its ‘maverick’ cuisine style, managing director of South Pacific Resorts, Erika Bult said the menu, décor, service-style, and the attire worn by the restaurant team is based on the local legend of the demigod Maui. “He stole the secret of fire from the underworld, and after bringing it to the surface the people of the Cook Islands [and the rest of
the world] enjoyed the pleasures of cooked food. “The unique menu and cuisine style is the brainchild of the company executive chef de cuisine Jocelyn Ballantyne from New Zealand. After five years in the Cook Islands, Jocelyn has become well known for her original approach to food preparation, presentation and her preference to working with organic products.” The Flambé menu celebrates the use of char-grill and flambé cooking, using fresh flavours to introduce ‘levels’ of the taste experience.
Getting to know one celebrated ‘foodies’ i
– a conversation with Sue
Iconic colonial residence, now well-known restaurant Tamarind Hous natural habitat for foodie, chef, restaurateur, author and world-trav
“Included in the ingredients for certain dishes, patrons are not only invited to enjoy local seafood, NZ beef and lamb, but also ostrich, venison and kangaroo. The menu is around 70% gluten free and 60% lactose free,” said Erika. Flambé is open for dinner only (16 and over). Closed Sunday and Monday.
Edgewater Resort’s Award Winning Chefs
Fronted by lawns reaching out to the coral covered waterfront at Tu was built a hundred years ago as a home for the management of the Un later the home of the British Consul. It was refurbished and opened as Sue Carruthers and her husband, Robert Brown.
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o established the restaurant had become when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended a Pacific Islands Forum in Rarotonga in 2012, the Secretary dined more than once at Tamarind House.
Sue was born and grew up in Nairobi moving to London as a young woman in the ‘swinging sixties’ to work and ultimately take off to the world. “I went to a business college. It was a great time to be in London. I worked evenings in a Knightsbridge restaurant, the ‘Borsche and Tears’, which belonged to a mad Hungarian. It was here that I realised this is what I really enjoyed doing.”
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he Cook Islands Chef Association ran a Salon Culinaire cook-off competition in April featuring iconic Cook Island dishes as well as International
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dishes, and the chefs of the Edgewater Resort swept the field of awards including Best Mayonnaise, Best Ika Mata (raw fish), Winner of Compose Salad, Winner
Chocolate Cake, Cold Desserts, Celebration Cake, Fruit and Vegetable Carvin, and Winner of Best Rukau dish (spinach).
The Little Polynesian Resort turns ten
elebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the Little Polynesian Resort is a boutique resort in Titikaveka (Rarotonga), which features the Little Polynesian Café A new management team led by Rarotongan-born general manager Louis Enoka is ‘freshening up’ the complex and the café.
“We have fourteen villas, each positioned for maximum privacy. The beach is arguably the best on the island and even on the hottest day, the southeasterly trade wind provides a refreshing breeze,” said Louis. “All that fresh air is likely to create a thirst and an appetite, so refreshments and food are available all day at the Little Polynesian Café. Our emphasis is on ‘Polynesian
But the travel bug was still there! Despite neither being experienced ‘yachties’, Sue and Bill bought an old sailboat, a Nicholson 32. “We called it Rafiki (means ‘friend’ in Swahili)”.
“We left Cape Town in 1979; our daughter was seven, so she came with us and loved every minute of it. Now she’s a climate
Louis Enoka, the new general manager
fresh’, from the plantation and sea to the table with the least delay. “If you’re fond of fresh fruits like pawpaw, pineapple, mango, guava, passion, star fruit, banana and coconut; and from the sea, yellow fin tuna, maroro, mahimahi,
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Owners, Guillaume and Karine Kapfer are French and everything about the style
“I borrowed money from my dad and we set up a pizza place called the Pizza Den, and finished up with four!”
“Bill learned how to navigate from a retired British sea captain who taught celestial navigation, and I went on a sailing course.
broadbill, eke and wahoo – as sashimi or ika mata - you’re in for a treat. You might also try Polynesian staples like taro, maniota, rukau, kumara, poke and kuru”. Little Polynesian Café offers poolside breakfast, lunch and dinner overlooking the lagoon.
Le Rendez-Vous offers French cuisine, naturally! ecently opened on the main road next to Rarotonga International Airport, Le Rendez-Vous Café and Bistro hopes to live up to its name to become one of the favourite places to meet and eat on the island.
“From London I travelled to Europe, India and South East Asia. I lived in Johannesburg and I met my first husband Bill in Katmandu. We got married in Australia and settled in Cape Town.
baked pies and pastries, and savory French crepes. They are keen to bring the tastes of France to both locals and visitors on Rarotonga. and cuisine of Le RendezVous is French. All their food and coffee is freshly-made with local and imported French ingredients, including
The Café is open for breakfast and lunch until 2pm, and the restaurant from 6pm. This is also Rarotonga’s first drivethrough takeaway. And, it’s open on Sundays!
Sue Carruthers of Tamarind House and South Seas Cuisine fame
change expert who travels the world. We spent the next few years on Rafiki. We would stop and work”. They sailed to the Atlantic coast off South America, then up to the Caribbean and Florida, where they stayed a while.
“I was born on the Equator. I grew up in the tropics. I travelled the tropics. Now I live in the tropics.” “Finally, we sailed through the Panama Canal spending time in French Polynesia, then on to Rarotonga in 1984. We liked it here and decided to start a restaurant, so we sold the boat in New Zealand and flew back to Rarotonga”. They bought the Jade Garden in 1984, changing the name to Portifino, an Italian-style restaurant: “We had that restaurant for nearly thirty years.
Today, under new ownership, the restaurant has been renamed Bamboo Jacks”. “In 1988, I opened the Flame Tree with Robert Brown. Robbie and I have been together since then. We sold Flame Tree in 2000 and the new owners turned it into accommodation. “We missed the restaurant business but said if we are going to do it again, it’s got to be an old colonial house, and it’s got to be on the seafront”. That’s when they bought the old Union Steamship Company House in Tupapa. “I called it Tamarind House because the Tamarind tree means a lot to me, as it is a Kenyan tree as well a local tree here. It was like a touch of home. “Robbie is the chef. When we started Tamarind House in 2004 I really didn’t want to be in the kitchen anymore. I wanted to be out front and involved in the designing of the food. I’d had enough of working over the hot grills. Robbie is a wonderful chef – he is more of a gifted chef than I am - we sort off swapped roles!”
Tamarind House Restaurant and garden