Available only at Hard Rock’s Saipan and Guam stores, Chamorro cheeseburger is made of 100 percent Angus beef and local spices to give it that tropical version of pungent taste and kick.
Hard Rock’s newly-appointed director of operations for Guam and Saipan Remco Engelman said their new menu will be a combination of innovatively new and tried favorites. New cocktails with local flavors will also be served.
“The management did allow us to give it a bit of a local twist. We have the Chamorro cheeseburger which has a spicy sauce made with peppers that give it that local kick. I think it’s a great burger. It’s only available on Guam and Saipan,” said Engelman in an interview last Thursday during the launching of their new food items on Saipan.
Executive Chef Kotwal Singh developed the Chamorro cheeseburger which is basted with a spicy concoction and topped with Pepper Jack Cheese.
“We fell just short of calling it the “Boonie Burger.” Just some of the exciting new flavors the Hard Rock Café is bringing to Saipan this month,” Singh said.
Saipan and Guam are both frequented by international tourists, mostly Japanese, who want a taste of local delicacies.
Engelman said the Chamorro cheeseburger is warmly embraced by their customers in both islands.
“So far it’s been very good. A lot of our guests are interested in trying the Chamorro food,” he said.
Engelman, a hotel and restaurant management graduate from the Netherlands, brings with him 14 years of experience working for international major restaurants in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Guam and South Korea.
He will lead Hard Rock’s management team in the Marianas with the newly-appointed Saipan Operations Manager Reynaldo Perez.
Perez joins the Saipan team after working for Hard Rock stores in the Philippines and the Middle East.
“With our new management team, we plan to make Hard Rock Café more accessible to our guests again with fun new food, improved service plans and crazy new drinks,” said Engelman.
With the local tourism industry still in a slump, Engelman said the challenge to make tourists’ stay and experience on the islands more worthwhile is greater.
“It’s a challenging time right now. That’s why it’s important to promote that we have a new management team. We want every guest to get that experience. After all, it’s still the rock and roll museum of sort,” said Engelman.
Hard Rock Café’s Saipan store boasts of memorabilia from rock legends, The Ramones, Madonna, Elvis Presley and others.
The first Hard Rock Café was built in 1971 in London’s Hyde Park Corner.
Owners Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett thought of it as a theme restaurant but the rock and roll memorabilia concept just came by accident through a guitar that guitar-legend Eric Clapton gave them.
“He [Eric Clapton] asked one of the owners, Isaac Tigrett, if he could reserve him a seat and Isaac said, ‘I’ll put it over the bar and that should mark your spot.’ Then Isaac got another guitar in the mail with a note that says: “Mine’s as good as his. Love, Pete.” Pete is Peter Townsend of the WHO. That kind of started the memorabilia,” said Engelman.
Today, Hard Rock Café owns more than 71,000 rock & roll memorabilia acquired through donations or auctions.
American filmmaker and painter Andy Warhol described Hard Rock as the Smithsonian of Rock & Roll because of its voluminous pieces of memorabilia.
In 2006, the Seminole Indian Tribe in Florida bought the 140 chain of Hard Rock Cafe restaurants spread over 36 countries from its original owners.
Engelman said Hard Rock Café gives one that rock and roll feeling while dining in a museum.
“I love the brand. It’s unique,” he said.
