The brainchild of food truck operator Vaimiti and firifiri producer Laetitia, Taharu’u’s Garden has been the talk of the town in recent weeks. Vaimiti is in charge of all communications to promote everyone’s products, while Laetitia coordinates the stands.
Located not far from the Taharu’u public beach in Papara, the ephemeral Sunday market confided in Chefs de Tahiti.
➤ What can you find at Taharu’u’s Garden?
To attract people, we thought we had to offer something different from what was already available. We offer ma’a Tahiti: the basic Tahitian brunch! But you can also find “cuisines du monde”, with samosa, Vietnamese, American, Moroccan, Chinese, etc…. And that’s every Sunday morning, from 5am to 10am (while stocks last). We try to diversify what’s on offer at the market, so depending on the weekend, we ask exhibitors: “Who wants to position themselves at the market? We try to make sure there’s something new on the market every Sunday. We’ve been running the market for over 3 months now, and between 10 and 15 exhibitors come every weekend. We have our “permanents” and our “itinerants”.
➤Where did you get the idea for Taharu’u’s Garden?
Laetitia produces Firifiri and was looking for a place to sell them on Sundays in Papara. When she came to see me about renting the small piece of land, I told her I was interested, but that it was in her interest to create a small market. Uniting people around her is essential, because it’s the group dynamic that will bring people in and increase sales. What’s more, there isn’t really a Sunday market in Papara, so we decided to invite anyone who wanted to sell ma’a.
➤How is this market different from those we already know?
The idea is to offer a place to showcase everything you can find in Papara. It’s a safe place, with parking, tables and benches for eating in. A place where you can have breakfast with no minimum purchase. At the end of the day, you can buy for 500f, have a table, settle in with your family and have brunch under the coconut trees.
➤What next for Taharuu Garden?
The site is not yet well laid out, but this is something we really want to improve. We’re going to build a real garden and really make this place pleasant and user-friendly for the whole population.
Here are some of the exhibitors you can find on Sunday in the Taharu’u’s Garden village
