Meet Rotorua’s hospitality heroes: Part 2

Following on from part 1 of Meet Rotorua’s hospitality heroes, we have four more amazing locals to introduce.

Roaster Bob Bell at Boasters Coffee Roasters
Coffee has always been one of Bob Bell’s passions. At family-owned Boasters Coffee Roasters, beans are lovingly roasted onsite using a classic and timeless 15-kilogram Toper Roaster. The shop’s Original Roast is a nutty, medium-dark brew with notes of berry shining through. Coffee lovers can grab a freshly made sandwich

Bob and his wife Rachael have anchored the community behind each cuppa with a little lending library in-store and active presence at events around the Bay of Plenty. On top of their dedication to constant improvement, Bob and Rachael are also keenly aware of coffee’s impact on the environment and strive to reduce their footprint wherever possible.

Alex and Sue Burge of Ciabatta Café and Bakery
Trained pâtissier Alex and his wife, Sue, have established themselves in Rotorua as having some of the city’s best artisan bread. Self-taught bakers Alex and Sue launched a wholesale operation baking out of their backyard, and eventually opening their café 13 years ago.

Known for its loaded sandwiches (on the café’s namesake ciabatta bread), Sue recommends the new Reuben on house-made toasted rye sourdough and Ciabatta’s famous Longdog, a German frankfurter on a 40-centimetre ciabatta bun filled with homemade sauces and topped with melted cheese. The cabinet is also chocka with sweet offerings, including some of Alex’s cronut flavour inventions. Ingenuity and quality anchor everything they do and are why Ciabatta Café is so beloved by locals and visitors alike.

Sidak Saluja at Atticus Finch
At the helm of fusion restaurant Atticus Finch is owner-director Sidak, aka “Sid”. With a decade of experience in the hospitality industry and a background in business management, Sid brings a strategic vision and passion for customer experience to the eatery.

In 2023, Atticus Finch took home three wins at the Rotorua Hospitality Awards – a testament to Sid’s high standards. He says the restaurant, located in Rotorua’s ever-popular covered Eat Streat hub, has an “awesome vibe” and that customers can expect “fresh, share-style plates paired with high-quality drinks”. Some of his favourites from the menu? The ginger sesame fried chicken, Asian fusion pork dumplings and the spice-rubbed New Zealand lamb rump.

Claudia Knight from Eastwood Café
Plenty Group’s operations and events manager, Claudia Knight, was instrumental in opening Eastwood Café’s doors in 2020. Located on the ground floor of the Scion Research Centre, wood is the star of the space, with the minimalist design and exposed wooden beams a nod to Scion’s forestry connections.

Leveraging her 15 years of hospitality experience, Claudia’s specialty is operations and logistics – problem-solving on the fly to ensure each customer has a fantastic experience. From the menu, she recommends the Green Bowl, which is heaped with seasonal greens, squeaky-salty halloumi, za’atar avocado and runny poached egg, and the wood-fired pizzas, Eastwood’s specialty.