Cez Tan, Island Joe's Hawaiian BBQ

Cez Tan is the owner of Island Joe's a special restaurant in Onehunga, Auckland.  She kindly accepted my Q&A.  This is another instance of a migrant getting into business and adding diversity to the Kiwi palate.  I've never been to Island Joe's but the people who've been there have glowing praises and recommendations.  You'll notice that barbeque is spelt with a "q" just like how it's written in the American language.  Whether it's a c or q it is still a tasty meal.  I'll definitely make this a must-stop next time I'm in Auckland.

Q: What's the inspiration behind your business?
A: My favourite hobby is cooking and I've always wanted to try my hand at setting up a restaurant.  When the opportunity rose, I had to grab it.  Filipino food has always been the underdog in the international food scene when compared to Chinese, Thai, Japanese and other Asian cuisines but I know that our barbeque is far superior if only people can taste it.  The popularity of Hawaiian Barbeque in America gave me the idea to set-up a similar concept given that the original Hawaiian BBQ chain was co-founded by a Filipino thereby accounting for the Filipino influence.  Hawaiian cuisine is a mix of Asian, Polynesian and American food and our menu reflects this.

Q: What has been a challenge while building your business and how did you manage it?
A: The challenge has been to introduce our food, which is quite new to the Kiwi palate, to the general populace and not only to Filipinos.  We are slowly building up our non-Filipino customer base by word-of-mouth and participating in events like Pasifika.  Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to do a marketing blitz.  So we rely largely on people trying our food and loving it and inviting others to try.

Q: Name three people, dead or alive, you'll like to have dinner with, and why?
A: Simon Gault - I'd like to get his input as to how to get people to try our food.  Kim Dotcom - he would be an interesting person to talk to and also I might be able to convince him to invest in the restaurant business, ha ha ha.  Richie McCaw - I would love for him to try our food and endorse it.

Q: Are you a cat or dog person, and why?
A: Probably a cat, I'm not as sociable as a dog.  Although I like meeting people, I prefer one-on-one interactions rather than crowds.

Q: Where in NZ is the place you can call as your sanctuary, and why?
A: My house, where else would you feel relaxed and free?  When you get home from work, you can just sit in your deck and listen to bird songs.

Q: Something not many people know about you?
A: I'm very loyal to true friends.

Q: If you could travel back in time, where and when would it be, and why?
A: Nowhere.  If I change a thing in the past, I might not end up in NZ, and I don't want to be anywhere else at this point in time.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Have a chain of Island Joe's here and abroad.

There you have it ladies and gentlemen.  It's definitely a place to check out in Onehunga, Auckland.  With technology, the present world is now smaller, with almost all parts discovered.  It's time to explore and discover the next world, Food From Many Nations.

Bananas appeal to Kiwis

This was originally posted on NZPlanet.info and I'm sharing it with you again.  A Filipino like me, may be missing the other varieties of bananas that we grew up with.  We do get some of them from time to time in Asian and Filipino stores.

On any given day, in a veggie shop, dairy or the supermarket, you will find heaps of people buying bananas.  The ones we find in NZ usually come from the Philippines (71%) or Ecuador (29%).  Unlike Australia, we can't grow bananas in our backyards, so hence the importation of this tropical fruit.  It's quite interesting to note that Kiwis really love bananas.  According to the 2009/10 Household Economic Survey, an average of $88 per year was spent for bananas, while the closest rival apples was only $61 per year.  Please click on Statistics New Zealand Statistic New Zealand to know more about this. 

I was raised in a country with a diet heavy on bananas: boiled, fried, sweetened, cooked, fresh, banana flour, banana cakes, as well as eating the other parts of the banana: flowers and stalks.  I even got to know of someone who has started making "vegemeat" out of banana peelings, calling it banana burger patties.  Alas, I didn't get the chance to taste it.

The kind of bananas we get here in NZ are limited in terms of variety.  I think they're the Cavendish-type.  I miss the ones that I grew up with.  I can still recall the days spent on the farm carrying the banana trunks for replanting up the hill.  After nine months they begin to show flowers and fruits.  There is even a red-skinned colour banana, the one my grandmother used to make into sweet cakes.  Another variety is really very sweet and very small too, just over the size of a thumb.

The next time you meet a banana, just think and remember where it came from.  And that it took a very long journey just to be with you!