Sound decision a flaming success

If Plan A had worked out, Matt Ingold might be in a recording studio today, tweaking dials and twirling knobs and attempting to make The Next Big Thing sound like a million dollars. Or at least a million-seller.
Instead, Ingold is the co-owner and chef at the Flame Tree Restaurant in Muri. His creations are served up on a plate now rather than a CD.
Ingold was working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Music Production when he noticed something unusual – he was enjoying his casual job more than his uni courses.
“I had a part-time job as a kitchen hand for a catering company,” says Ingold, 33. “Eventually the part-time job became far more important than the study. I loved the food side of things more than what I was actually meant to be doing (at school).”
That really wasn’t much of a surprise, really, considering Ingold had already demonstrated a gift for grub in the family kitchen.
Ingold’s mother wasn’t a big fan of cooking so it fell to his father to ensure there was hot food on the table. Young Matt was quickly recruited to lend a hand.
“I guess I took the sous chef role,” he says. “Anything my dad didn’t want to do, it was up to me to do. I always liked it. I didn’t realize at the time that I liked it, but I did.”
The job with the catering company wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it did provide valuable hands-on training and eventually led to an apprenticeship offer.
“I got the terrible job of boning the chickens and that sort of carry-on, but I proved I could do it,” Ingold says. “I made sure when I took my breaks, I took them with the chef because so much of the learning comes from what the chefs talk about during the in-between times. It was far more interesting to me than what I was meant to be studying.”
Ingold abandoned a possible career in the sound booth to embark on the vagabond life that is emblematic of a chef’s quest for kitchen karma. He practised his craft in England, Sweden and Germany, before returning to New Zealand to finish his chef’s paper at Christchurch Polytech.
He bought his first restaurant in Blenheim when he was 25 and settled in for the long haul. Seven years later and it was time to move on yet again.
“It’s that old story about the perfect storm,” Ingold says. “My business was at the point where I wanted it sold. I picked up the Restaurant Association of New Zealand magazine and there was a restaurant for sale in Rarotonga. I jokingly said to my wife, can I call? And she, apparently jokingly, said, yeah, go for it. So I did.”
The restaurant in question was the Flame Tree. Ingold already knew the place because, as it so happened, he and his wife had dined there – on Valentine’s Day, no less – during their honeymoon in the Cook Islands.
“We loved Rarotonga,” he says. “Loved the people, loved the climate. And loved the abundance of fresh game fish. We said, on that honeymoon, one day we’ll retire to the Cook Islands. We only made it seven years before deciding that we’d come here, not to retire but to work and get into business here.”
With his long-time business partner, Niki Williams, running front-of-house, Ingold started in 2007 to put his own imprint on an eatery that has long been an institution on the island.
Ingold says one of the more daunting tasks in the early days was making new contacts.
“I don’t just mean on the supply side of things,” he says. “I mean in everything. Knowing who the best electrician is – those sorts of things. That was challenging. But it was challenging to keep away from the beach as well.”
The Flame Tree uses local produce as much as possible, but that can be a tricky proposition at times.
“We go through boom and bust with tomatoes and cucumbers and all that sort of stuff,” Ingold says. “But whenever we’re getting them, the quality is great.”
Ingold describes his restaurant’s offerings as being all about the core ingredient.
“It comes down to the protein – be it the fish or the meat – and not hiding that ingredient,” he says. “Enhancing it with the things you put on the plate with it; not disguising it with overly-complicated flavours. If it’s a piece of tuna, you want it to be a piece of tuna.”
As for the future, Ingold says he sees the island attracting even greater numbers of visitors than at present and having those same tourists stop by the Flame Tree to satisfy their appetite for tropical fare.
“We want those people to come here the first night, come the second night and come their last night as well,” says Ingold. “I want this place to be seen as the place where people want to eat.”

It’s all about the fish
Matt Ingold has one eye on the calendar and one eye on his new menu.
As chef and co-owner of the Flame Tree Restaurant, Ingold knows, if all goes according to plan, there will be an influx of Australian visitors come July. That’s one reason why he researched the various food choices offered to diners in such areas as Oz’s Gold Coast. As well, Ingold notes, re-jigging a menu tends to keep everything, and everyone, from growing stale.
“Food trends, food flavours and available produce change so constantly,” he points out. “You have to make sure people are getting things that are a top-quality product and actually available. And (changing the menu) gives me something else to taste every day. It stops me from stagnating and getting too comfortable.”
While Ingold has an affinity for the French school of cooking, he understands that particular style is not appropriate for hotter climes.
“You can’t put big, heavy bourguignons and the like on the menu here,” he says, noting how food needs to suit its environment.
“Here, it’s light flavours that are Asian-influenced,” he says. “Flavours that are also influenced by parts of the Mediterranean and Greece – places with similar climates and similar products.”
Unlike some chefs who prefer to steer well clear of the stove when they’re not on the clock, Ingold says he’s the one who prepares the family meals. While he may enjoy strong, robust flavours himself, at home his goal is to keep it simple and quick.
“I’d rather spend half an hour sitting down eating that food with my family than that extra half hour cooking it,” he says. “Food with my family is about being with my family, not about what we’re eating.”
As for his favourite dish to prepare, Ingold offers an enthusiastic answer.
“I really, really love to cook fish, and cook it well,” he says. “And understanding the different fish and how they should be cooked. I love to eat it. I love to cook it.”

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