The Brando appoints Jean Imbert to lead new culinary programme

Luxury eco-resort The Brando has partnered with French chef Jean Imbert to realise its vision for the resort’s new culinary programme.

Imbert has designed a new sensory experience for the guests that combines epicurean storytelling with the atoll’s distinct culture and heritage.

This new partnership will mark the arrival of new dishes at Bob’s Bar, the Beachcomber Café and the Mutinés restaurant. Inspired by the personal archives of Marlon Brando, Chef Jean Imbert uses his talent to tell some of the greatest anecdotes of the archipelago through revisited cult dishes. On the design side, the Artistic Directors of Chef Violaine and Jérémy will continue the narrative through specially-fashioned ‘carnets de voyage’.

Beachcomber Café’s locally-inspired menu will feature fruits and vegetables from Polynesia and will see some of Chef Imbert’s signatures reworked with an original twist to celebrate the native ingredients from the land and the sea.

The current Bob’s Bar will take on the style of a travel diary, with re-imaginings of Marlon Brando’s favourites. There is a version of Brando’s “real Bounty”, which consisted of him breaking a fresh coconut in half and pouring sun-melted hot chocolate on top and also ‘La Glace des Mutinés’ with secret ingredients loved by the actor, to retell one of his favourite pastimes while filming Mutiny on the Bounty, which involved taking an 18-litre tub of ice cream on a kayak and spending the day adrift. Other dishes in this revisited ‘beach bar’ menu include the ‘Marlon Burger’ (a smash version just as he liked it), street food classics like Croque Bob, Lobster Roll, Acras, Fish and Chips.

This Spring, Les Mutinés, the resort’s fine dining restaurant, will be refit to Imbert’s unique style with new designs by Remi Tessier, the architect behind “Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée.” Through a culinary adventure, dining guests will retrace the steps of The Bounty throughout the world, a journey that culminated on Tetiaroa.

Imbert has also worked with the local mixologist to re-create a series of cocktails inspired by Brando’s films such as Apocalypse Now and The Wild One. These cinematic highlights complement a cocktail menu telling the story of Bob’s Bar and Tetiaroa.

“Our menus will be mainly based on local cuisine,” reveals Imbert. “We will work with producers and fishermen to highlight the products that nature offers us. It is a huge honour for me to reinvent the menus of this legendary establishment. I had the chance to be present at the opening seven years ago and it is one of the places that inspires me the most and makes me dream.”

“Chef Jean Imbert exemplifies the long and noble French tradition of culinary arts, but with a keen eye for modern tastes and changing trends,” comments Richard Bailey, Chairman and CEO of Pacific Beachcomber. “His pioneering way of respecting the past while forging the future is very much in keeping with our hospitality philosophy at The Brando. We are pleased and honoured to have Jean bring his passion for gastronomy to the atoll, where his unique culinary skills will blend perfectly with the unique beauty of Tetiaroa.”