Page 27 - Fiji Traveller Issue 4

Chef Chand’s culinary creations

By Kite Pareti definitely give them a good experience with local flavours.”
Chand says the ability to manage a wide variety of cuisines is
As a teenager, Nilesh Chand dreamt of becoming a car all about good planning and having the right people around. “In
mechanic. all our restaurants, we have our sous-chefs who I collaborate
But life took a different route when he and his family left his with every day in our day-to-day business,” he said.
hometown to find greener pastures. It also requires keeping fit and being in tune with oneself.
“I’m originally from Tavua. When we moved to Nadi, I joined “To be a chef, you need to be motivated, you have to be fit, you
the hotel industry and started working as a commis [novice] need to make sure that you look after yourself well because it will
chef,” he said. give you a lot of energy when you are at work.
That was in 1993 at the Club Fiji Resort. He joined Jack’s of “Every day, I wake up at 6am and take some time to exercise
Fiji the following year and has remained part of the iconic group so that my day goes well. Afterwards, I go to work for the whole
of companies ever since. day, going from one restaurant to another. I spend about 10-12
From trainee chef to executive chef, Chand has been cooking hours each day at work so that I keep moving, talking to staff and
up a storm, honing his kitchen skills from some of Fiji’s best checking on them.
culinary chefs. Chand and his team have forged a close bond and have
Chand oversees seven different Jack’s of Fiji cafes and worked on some amazing events.
restaurants in Suva, Coral Coast and Denarau: Mamacita, “I have a couple memorable moments. We have done two
Bonefish, Cantina, Indigo, Lazy Beans, Corner Café and Baravi big catering events, one at South Sea Island and another at
Handicrafts Cafe. Blackrock, which required working day and night with three
Each of these restaurants has its own signature dishes. hours of rest, to make sure that everything is on top of what is
“We have a nice local style [masala crab] in Indigo. And then required. Those are the experiences I can't forget,” he recalls.
we have seafood platters in Bonefish, [as well as] fajitas in Chand also loves to cook international dishes for his small
Mamacita and Cantina,” Chand explains. family.
“We have something happening in all our restaurants which “We eat a lot of curry dishes at home. COVID was a good time
people love, and they always come back for it. for me to teach my wife and kids the type of food I cook at work
“We try to always use local products, and we recently launched like grilling fish and chicken with some mushrooms, pepper and
a few local items in our [weekly] specials. salt, and also making mash potatoes, away from the Indian food,
Chand encourages visitors to check out their restaurants, you know? I love doing these things with my family and they are
“especially Indigo and Bonefish because there's a lot of local enjoying these different foods.
dishes that we do like ‘kokoda’ (traditional Fijian dish prepared In his leisure time, Chand says: “I love travelling to the islands
with raw fish marinated in coconut milk and lime). We will to see what's there and see the culture.”
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