Treasure Island lures award-winning chef to head up F&B division

(TRAVPR.COM) FIJI - November 23rd, 2013 - Helping take Fiji’s fine dining reputation to new levels, Treasure Island Resort has appointed highly respected, multi-award winning executive chef, Adrian Hickey to head up its F&B division.

Australian-born Hickey needs no introduction to the international culinary scene, joining the iconic Fijian resort directly from a stint as executive chef at Pacific Resort Aitutaki in the appropriately named Cook Islands.

While at Aitutaki, Chef Hickey’s stewardship of the resort’s F&B capacity and gourmet meal delivery is credited with playing a key role in helping the resort win a string of internationally acknowledged awards.

His international experience also includes three years working in the US. On a local basis, he has worked kitchen-side in senior chef roles at several of Australia’s highest profile restaurants and hotels.

These include the Hyatt Regency Perth in Perth, Melbourne’s Hilton on the Park, Perth’s multi-award-winning La Rustica Restaurant and more latterly, Melbourne’s Café La Strada where he performed both executive chef and management roles.

Chef Hickey’s career also includes a three-year spell at the Moonee Valley Racing Club, the venue for one of Australia’s most prestigious Spring Carnival races, the  W.S.Cox Plate, where on race day he took responsibility for 15 separate dining rooms catering up to 44,000 race goers.

Underlining Chef Hickey’s reputation and his immediate impact on the local culinary scene, shortly after arriving in Fiji last month, he was asked to join the team of highly-respected locally-based chefs judging the Moffat National Salon Culinaire 2013 which determines Fiji’s ‘Chef of the Year’.

Announcing the appointment, Treasure Island & Bounty Island Resort Group General Manager, Scott Walton said having Chef Hickey join the team represented a major accomplishment given his overly impressive CV.

“Fiji has been steadily building its reputation as the culinary powerhouse of the South Pacific in recent years as evidenced by the arrival of several master chefs and the opening of a string of signature restaurants in many of the destination’s top resorts,” Mr Walton said.

“Having someone of Chef Hickey’s reputation here has taken that reputation another huge leap forward and we are delighted and feel very privileged to have him on the executive team.

“More to the point the level of skill and service he is brings to Treasure Island Resort will provide a wonderful enhancement to our overall guest service delivery.

“Our guests are in for a real treat.”

###