Peter and Beate Roelfes
We were both born in the northern part of Germany and grew up in the countryside. Peter began his apprenticeship as a chef when he was 15 years old. Having grown up with a mother who was a passionate chef and being surrounded by good food, cooking was in his blood. Peter comments that in his early years as a chef, the work was hard, not the easy ride that apprentice chefs have in Europe now and he is proud to have come from the "Old School".
Beate completed a Traineeship as a Commercial Clerk and had a promising future with a big company.
Then we met.
One year later we decided to travel and went to Switzerland. Beate completed a Diploma in Hospitality after finishing her training in the 5 Star hotel where Peter worked as Chef Saucier under Paul Hagmann. After traveling for over 10 years and working in city's like Zurich, London, Cape Town, Sun City and all around Europe, we moved to Cairns, before we found Tables of Toowong in Brisbane.
Throughout the years of traveling, we've worked in 5 and 6 Star deluxe hotels, small award winning fine dining restaurants in the provinces and large catering operations. We fell in love with Australia the first day we arrived. Here we can do what we've always wanted to do; be free to live our dream and offer people what we enjoy most, superb hospitality. After selling Tables and having the twins, Beate became a full time mum and Peter worked as Executive Sous Chef and later acting Executive Chef at the Sheraton in Brisbane.
CasuarinaBeach was the next destination where we helped opening The Sandbar and Grill. Six months later we were back in Brisbane working at the Rocklea Markets with farmers from all over Australia. In November of 2004, we got a call about a restaurant on NorthStradbrokeIsland and Amis is the happy result.
Recently we started a new venture called “Your wedding on NorthStradbrokeIsland” to encourage couples to have their wedding on this beautiful Island. All consultancy services are free of charge.
“We don’t train our team to be nice. We just hire nice people, and train them to be professional,” says Peter. “That’s why people feel so comfortable here. We involve people in what we do, and people love to share a laugh or a yarn over a great meal.
“Our food is very tasty, but don’t we all go out for more than just good food? It is about getting together, having fun and enjoying great food and hospitality. At Amis we share our passion and love for all of that – it’s why we named the restaurant for the French word for friends.
“Virtually everything we cook comes from the local areas, and each dish is made from fresh seasonal Australian produce. We mainly use local suppliers, very often we pick up fresh seafood practically straight from the fishermen’s catch for dinner that night, if there has been any fish caught.”
“Recommendations are very important in a seasonal area like Point Lookout. Weddings and tourists are very important to the Island and to us, but you need local support to survive the winter season.
“Local businesses support each other a lot in a small community, and almost all of the local resorts and shops on Straddie recommend that guests come and eat at Amis.
“People love our Mondo Duck Confi, a creation that I’ve been perfecting for 14 years. It takes a very long time to cook the sauce, and it is so succulent it literally melts in your mouth.”
But a true Island getaway needs a good seafood dish, so the catch of the day is one of our favourites. Another favourite is Amis’ Bush to Bay, with Queensland kangaroo and Moreton Bay bugs.
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