The Specialist

Chef Arouna Ibouda's world is one of flavour and style, his vision permeates every detail in every dish, creating a truly inspired dining experience. As a chef he's a perfectionist, skipping the bread service all together because if he serves bread he's determined to bake it himself, and do it right. He throws quick/instant ingredients out from his kitchen and starts homemade dishes from scratch. As Executive Chef at Bali Mandira Beach Resort & Spa he composes dishes with the delicate sensibility and sophisticated playfulness of French flavour with just a hint of an international twist.

Ilbouda began his culinary career at the age of 18 when he started working at two-Michelin stars restaurant, Gilles Tournadre, in his home town in Normandie, France. Determined to fully explore the culinary world, Arouna moved to Paris, working at several restaurants, including Plaza Athenee and the famous worldwide franchise dining business – Bistrot de Savoie, where he refined his skills by creating precise and well-executed fine dining dishes. From there, he was assigned to work as a chef for celebrity tours for five years; Madonna, Rolling Stones, 50 cents, BB King, Black Eye Peas, Snoop Dog to name a few. Searching for a new cooking adventure, Arouna decided to come to Bali first working at Karma Resort, before moving on to Bali Mandira. Here, his technical execution and precision shine through in unpretentious creations – Gnocchi, Mixed Grilled and Tropical Gazpacho. Desserts such as Chocolate Delice and Maccaron Tower elevate the ordinary to something truly special. \AM

In the fall of 2009 Australian chef Bradley Pittman decided to take his cooking career to the next level and broaden his perspective by finding new ingredients and new flavours. Bali was his destination, and he now occupies the Executive Sous Chef position at Padma Resort Bali, at Legian.

Bradley grew up on the Gold Coast in Australia, and discovered an affinity for the kitchen early on. While his friends would spend all their spare time on the beach, Brad, would be helping his grandmother in the kitchen, dicing, chopping and mixing ingredients. This blossoming cooking hobby eventually became an obsession, leading to enrollment in a four year cooking internship, where his talent and discipline marked him for a serious perusal of the culinary arts. On completion of his internship, he worked at several restaurants and hotels on the Gold Coast, before making the leap to Sydney and then on to Bali.

Today, he brings sophistication and a melodic imagination to the menu at Bella Rosa Italian Restaurant. His upcoming menu for Bella Rosa including delicacies such as Salad of Baby Romaine, pickled onion, feta, radish, dill, garlic breadcrumbs with apple cider vinaigrette, Tomato Carpaccio with vodka marinated salmon and a berry puree, Rigatoni with Chicken Liver, chili, tomato concasse finished with torn basil and grated grana padano. \AM