Innovative Indigenous restaurant Iluka’s Kitchen set to return after successful trial period in Port Hedland

An innovative Indigenous pop-up restaurant in Hedland is set to return next year after a successful six-week trial period brought First Nations storytelling and food to town. Iluka’s Kitchen is owned and run by chef Zach Green and world-renowned Port Hedland artist Bobbi Lockyer and will return in June next year after the trial brought hundreds of people through the door. Green, who previously ran a restaurant in Darwin, said he wanted to celebrate culture through cuisine at Iluka’s Kitchen. “It’s all about celebrating culture through food because I’m a storyteller at heart as an Indigenous chef,” he said. “We want to show people that if you eat crocodile, kangaroo, or emu there is always a story attached to it. “Initially this was a six-week trial to see how it went and we had over 430 people come through the doors within 12 nights of service.” The pop-up restaurant operated out of a shipping container in Marapikurrinya Park and served mouth-watering dishes like crocodile laksa and barramundi. Green moved to Port Hedland last year and said the town had reignited his passion for food. “I was just walking around here one day and saw the shipping containers which were just pure white,” he said. “I wanted to understand what was in them so I spoke to people at the Town and they told me there was a commercial kitchen in both of them. “It kind of just ignited the passion back into cooking.” Mr Green said Port Hedland had a lot of potential as a hospitality destination. “The concept behind it was giving Port Hedland a new dining experience because you only have a couple of places to be able to eat here,” he said. “I felt something was needed here, especially in this place because no one had actually used it except for community barbecues.” Hedland local and world-renowned creative Bobbi Lockyer was recently announced as a co-owner of the restaurant. In 2023 Lockyer designed the National NAIDOC poster and won the 2021 NAIDOC Artist of the Year award. In April she won the International Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Women Changing the World Awards in London. Lockyer said the restaurant had big plans for 2024. “Initially I just started helping with the branding, photography, and the marketing so it made sense to become a co-owner and join in on this venture,” she said. “We do have a lot of plans for next year and we have a lot of ideas so we are excited to work on it next year.” Lockyer said she would use her art to collaborate with Green’s culinary skills and cultural experiences for their upcoming projects in 2024. The duo said they put a large focus on engaging Indigenous people in employment. Green said at Iluka’s Kitchen the hospitality staff had been hired from Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation. “A big thing was employing local mob,” he said. “They never had hospitality experience before but they killed it which was really pleasing. “They have gone on to full-time work at Compass Group now.” Ilukas will return between June and September 2024 and during this period it will also be touring the Pilbara in collaboration with Tourism WA. While the restaurant will have a break, Green said they had plenty of other creative ventures in the works. He said PPE Events and PCC Productions were instrumental to the set up of the restaurant.