Business
10 December, 2024
Fiji and Italy blend into one
AWARD-winning head chef Parmod ‘Parmy’ Kumar and venue manager Col Doody have reunited their successful partnership – this time as owners of one of Cairns’ most popular eating destinations, Hopscotch Kitchen Bar in Earlville.
They previously worked together in two of Cairns’ largest and iconic venues – Dunwoody’s Hotel and Trinity Beach Tavern – as the head chef and venue manager.
During the eight years working together they established a strong friendship built on mutual respect for each other’s talents in the kitchen and front of house.
“Parmy is an outstanding chef with an artistic flair for flavour stemming from his Fijian heritage, combined with professional training and 29 years of experience as an executive chef, head chef, area chef and corporate chef,” Mr Doody said.
“Parmy has extensive knowledge behind him working for five-star hotels, resorts, fine dining, restaurants, cruise ships and great venues in Queensland,” he said.
“He is the person I always wanted to partner with owning our own venue. His nickname is Octopus as when the dockets are 100 deep in the kitchen, all you see is a blur of arms and pans over the burners and it appears as if he has eight hands cooking at once.
“Parmy has recently launched our new lunch and dinner menu and customers are really enjoying it.
“There will be more exciting dishes landing soon, so please follow us on social media for latest updates.
“The food Parmy presents is always immaculately presented and tastes sensational. No matter the service pressure he is under, the food comes out first class to the customer.
“It was always our aim to one day work together in our own venue”
The duo have been busy behind the scenes of Hopscotch to slightly change the perception of one of Cairns’ most popular eating destinations.
Hopscotch was first established as an Italian restaurant and still is regarded as having one of the best pasta, pizzas and steaks in town.
“But with my extensive knowledge and successful background managing hotels we have added a wider selection of beverage options, including new beer taps, wine and cocktail menus,” Mr Doody said.
“The recent installation of a 4HD overhead projector and large screen has also proven extremely popular for sports enthusiasts with the showing of AFL, NRL and the Melbourne Cup adding more personality to the large venue with chilled music videos playing in the background,” he said.
“The aim is to keep all of Hopscotch’s popular attributes and just add a deeper layer of options for the customer to enjoy, giving more people a reason to frequent Hopscotch.”
Mr Doody said there was a second kitchen at Hopscotch which was being prepared for a 2025 launch to be called the Kitchen Bar.
“This second kitchen menu will offer a fantastic array of curries from Parmy’s Fijian culinary heritage. Parmy’s curries are the best I have eaten and when we did curry nights together in hotels the response was extremely positive and popular,” he said.
Hopscotch Kitchen Bar is at the Barr Street Markets at Earlville, with 100 seats inside and 100 seats on the front deck overlooking Mulgrave Road, giving the option of alfresco or airconditioned dining. It is open every day from 8am for breakfast, lunch then dinner until 9pm.
