Fleur Sullivan | |
|---|---|
 Sullivan in 2013 | |
| Born | 1939or1940(age 84–85) |
| Occupation | Restaurateur |
| Culinary career | |
Previous restaurant(s)
| |
Fleur De Lyse Ross Sullivan CNZM (born 1939or1940) [1] is a New Zealand restaurateur and author. In 1999, Sullivan was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tourism, and in 2013 she was promoted to Companion of the same order, for services to the food industry.
Sullivan grew up on her grandparents' farm on the banks of the Waitaki River. [2] She first worked in hotels and restaurants on the West Coast of the South Island, and then in Alexandra. [3] In 1967, she bought the Dunstan Hotel in Clyde, and ran it as a bed and breakfast. [3] She became a local councillor and founded the Clyde Promotion Group to help preserve the town's history and promote it as a tourist destination. [3] After the breakdown of her marriage, Sullivan moved to Queenstown with her three children, before returning to Clyde in the late 1970s. [3] Sullivan and her partner converted the general store into a restaurant, named Olivers, which she ran for twenty years. [4] After a diagnosis of, and treatment for, bowel cancer, Sullivan retired to Moeraki. She and her family started selling seafood chowder from a van, and then she opened a restaurant, Fleurs Place, in 2003. [5] [6] Fleurs Place attracted worldwide attention when the English celebrity chef Rick Stein chose it to visit in 2006. [7] Sullivan later opened the Loan and Merc restaurant and bar in the heritage precinct in Oamaru. [8]
Sullivan closed Fleurs Place temporarily in 2021, finally closing permanently and selling her fishing quota in 2024. [3] [9] She wrote an autobiography, which was published by Random House in 2011. [10] She was also featured in the book Grow – Wāhine Finding Connection Through Food, by Sophie Merkens, documenting 35 New Zealand women connected to food. [11]
Sullivan had the idea to establish the Otago Goldfields Cavalcade, to boost tourism to small Otago towns. The first cavalcade was held in 1991, and attracted 220 people. The 25th anniversary cavalcade attracted nearly twice as many participants, including horseriders, wagon drivers, walkers, and bikers. [12]
In the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, Sullivan was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to tourism. [13] In the 2013 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the food industry. [14] [5]
The New Zealand royal honours system, a system of orders, decorations and medals, recognises achievements of, or service by, New Zealanders or others in connection with New Zealand. Until 1975, New Zealand used the British honours system. Since then the country has introduced a number of uniquely New Zealand honours, and as of 2021, only the dynastic British honours continue in active use in New Zealand, with the exception of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
Fleur Adcock was a New Zealand poet and editor. Of English and Northern Irish ancestry, Adcock lived much of her life in England. She is well-represented in New Zealand poetry anthologies, was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from Victoria University of Wellington, and was awarded an OBE in 1996 for her contribution to New Zealand literature. In 2008 she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature.
Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a New Zealand composer. She is of Māori Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing.
Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railway line, the Moeraki Branch, was built to the settlement and opened in 1877. However, the port could not compete with Oamaru and the lack of traffic as well as stability problems caused by difficult terrain led to the closure of the railway in 1879 after only two years' operation.
Rachel Jane Brooking is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament who served as the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and Minister for Food Safety in the Sixth Labour Government. She first became an MP at the 2020 New Zealand general election. She is a lawyer by profession.
Fleur's Place was a New Zealand seafood restaurant on the shore of Moeraki's bay, in an old whaling station. The restaurant was founded in 2002 by Otago restaurateur Fleur Sullivan.
Ingread Nea Collins is a New Zealand businesswoman based in Gisborne. She chaired the Tairawhiti District Health Board from 2001 until 2010.
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Yvonne Jasmine Te Ruki Rangi o Tangaroa Underhill is a New Zealand Pacific development geographer. She is a professor at the University of Auckland, where she teaches Pacific studies.
Janet Lynn Fanslow is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in researching the prevention, prevalence and consequences of family violence.
Fiona May Cram is a New Zealand social psychologist and researcher, of Ngāti Pāhauwera descent. In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Cram was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand, for services to Māori health and education.
Anne Doloras Perera is a Sri Lankan–New Zealand food scientist and author. She was awarded the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology's J. C. Andrews Award in 2022. In 2024 Perera was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to food science and nutrition.
Glenda Ruth Keam is a New Zealand composer, music scholar, and educator. In 2021, Keam was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and music education.
Deborah Ann Challinor is a New Zealand writer and historian. Challinor published her twenty-first book in 2024. In 2018 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature and historical research.
Suzanne Eleanor Chetwin is a New Zealand journalist and consumer rights advocate. She was the editor of several newspapers, including the Sunday News, the Sunday Star-Times and the Herald on Sunday, and the chief executive of Consumer New Zealand for thirteen years. In 2021 Chetwin was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to consumer rights.
Lisa Shelley Argilla is a South African–New Zealand wildlife veterinarian who leads a wildlife hospital in Dunedin. Argilla is director of the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital. In 2021 Argilla was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to animal welfare and conservation.
Michele Rae Hine is a New Zealand actor, director and performing arts educator. Hine has had roles in Disney's Return to Oz, disaster film Atomic Twister, New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, and played Carol Duff in Go Girls. In 2021, Hine was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to performing arts education.
Judith Catherine Trotter is a New Zealand diplomat. In 1996, Trotter was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to diplomacy. She has also been awarded a New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, a New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal, and France's National Order of Merit.
Louise Margaret Deansnée Thodey is a New Zealand Anglican priest and author, who published a book about her abuse within the church during her ordination training. In 2022 Deans was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community and women.
Elisabeth Judy Bellingham is a New Zealand opera singer, teacher, and author. She was an associate professor at the University of Otago. In 2016 Bellingham was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to classical singing. Bellingham once held the world record for the longest improvised operatic cadenza.
