Page 20 - Fiji Traveller Issue 1

You will also find some hyper-specific delicacies like rourou moci
(river prawns steamed in taro leaf parcels) on the Delta Delight
Platter that’s typically served on Saturdays, and sourced directly
from women in Lokia Village in Rewa.
The change came with the move to a bigger venue in 2021 (just
before Suva’s Covid-19 related shutdown) and a shift in Kanalevu’s
“ adopters of the brand (and still frequent the restaurant), their parents
core demographic.
While social media savvy millennials and Gen Zs were early

are now Kanalevu’s main patrons.
Kanalevu Kitchen
offers an exciting The Art of the pivot
Vui, and husband Frank (who also left a steady bank job as the
concept: iTaukei business expanded) have had to master the art of the pivot as

food for a modern they’ve navigated the ups and downs of an evolving food business.
They’ve had no choice, they say.
Just as their new restaurant was due to open in April 2021,
audience Covid-19 hit Fiji and offices in Suva shuttered, cancelling all of their
corporate catering gigs. Their regular customers worked from home
and no one came out to lunch.
” of goodies that homebound folks sent each other during lockdown,
To stay afloat, Kanalevu did graze boxes filled with an assortment
and to mark special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and
such.
The brand’s ‘Feed a Fijian’ initiative, which provided paid-for meals
to frontline workers in Suva, was another lifeline for the business.
It started by chance when they gave food to soldiers stationed
outside the medical emergency facility set up next door, at the old
gymnasium.
This sparked an idea and they were able to get corporate and

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