It's Amazing Who You Run Into At Ilam New World

“Isn’t that one of the chefs from the Yamagen?”
 

Yes it is. The man in the New World chef jacket is Liang Ma, who did indeed work at the award winning Yamagen restaurant in the now defunct Crowne Plaza Hotel in the CBD, right up until February 22, 2011. Liang Ma was approached by some of the few restaurants that remained open after the quake, asking if he wanted to work for them.
 

“I worked in a couple of restaurants after the earthquake for a day or so, but I found that it was just not me; I prefer hotel restaurants where there is room to grow professionally,” he says.
 

These days the polished concrete floors and brightly lit aisles are Liang’s new workspace and he is loving it.

“I started here in Ilam as the Seafood Manager,” Liang says. “I enjoy working with fresh fish; sushi and sashimi are wonderful things to prepare and serve. I also like to check out the fresh meat as that was a part of the work I did at the Yamagen.”
 

Now working in the dairy department of the Ilam New World, Liang Ma has no doubt he will return to hotel cooking in the future.
 

“As the city’s restaurants are rebuilt, there will be more work and I will go back,” he says. “I really like the team here in the supermarket; they are very professional and fun to work with.”
 

Ilam New World is the first new supermarket to be built and opened in Christchurch since the Feb 2011earthquake. It is completely new to the area – not a rebuild on the site of a supermarket, not a rebranding of another supermarket but a brand new build.
 

Ilam New World’s owner / operator, Phillip Blackburn says some people in the Ilam area don’t even know the very smart, modern and totally safe New World supermarket is there.

“People are real creatures of habit when it comes to supermarket shopping,” he says. “That’s why so many have been considerably thrown by the closures and demolition of a number of supermarkets in Christchurch.”
 

Mr Blackburn said one of the attractions of a Food Market at the supermarket this weekend will be the food demonstrations, including those by Liang Ma.

For more information, please contact Phillip Blackburn on 021 611 585 or Ali Jones on 027 247 3112.
 

Ends
Ilam New World Food Fair
Sat 24 and Sun 25 March 2012. 10-5pm.
Ilam New World, 45-67 Peer Street, Ilam (off Waimairi Rd)
Ph: 343 5646
There will be up to twenty stalls promoting products available in store. People are encouraged to come along and try some of this beautiful food and drink. There will be face painting for the children, a two piece jazz band and a sausage sizzle (to raise funds for Villa Maria College)