Tom and Lucy McDonald celebrated the official opening of the Paradise Supplies and Uncle Tom’s BBQ Shop on Friday afternoon in the presence of their friends and family who were treated to a celebratory BBQ grilled by Tom himself.

BBQ became a way of life for Tom after he met three good friends and official BBQ’ers from New Zealand who helped him organise a Pitmasters Competition in Rarotonga.

“Since then BBQ has pretty much become a way of life,” he said. “I fell head over heels in love with BBQ and as silly as it sounds the effects of BBQ are quite evident here with the amount of people that we’ve had pop in today. “

“BBQ is awesome. It brings everyone together. One thing everyone can appreciate is lovely food, and lovely food created by other people that you love,” he said. Tom is looking forward to passing on the love of BBQ and all that goes with it.

He expressed his thanks to Ken Van Mackelbergh and Jamie Ange Urwin of BBQ Boi, and Adam Winter of the Four Saucemen who helped him channel his passion for good food in the first place.