AMAZING PACIFIC 3: The King of Aitutaki and His Restaurant

Riki DeVon has had three wives and is preparing to get a fourth one. 18 youngsters call him dad and an undecided number of kids know him as grandpa. Riki is 54 years old, but the first time you meet him, he’ll tell you he’s 48. In Riki’s backyard sit two boats – a big one, that he takes out to the sea at family gatherings and a small one that he takes fishing from time to time.

Riki DeVon sang his entire life. And he practically sang everywhere – in Europe, Australia, on the West Coast of the United States, in Hawaii, in New Zeeland. He met Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones at a party and he impressed him so much with his Polynesian music that Keith gifted him with a yellow guitar. Riki didn’t settle with only the guitar and took Keith’s girlfriend for a night. Nobody got upset, times were different then.

Riki’s name is not Richard, as one would expect. It’s Te Ariki. A Polynesian name that he – or others – turned it English, so it would be easier to swallow, so to say. That goes both for the name and the person, naturally.

Riki’s passions are: music, beautiful women and good booze. When he has a woman next to him, he sings to her with his guitar. When he sings, he wants to drink rum. And when he drinks rum, he falls in love. That’s why you’ll never see him completely satisfied.

Riki DeVon has a lot of girlfriends and a lot of enemies in Aitutaki. Many think of him as the uncrowned king of the island, but there are plenty of those who’d like to see him hanging. He’s envied by many. He’s always had the most beautiful women, either locals or tourists. Business went well, so it never seemed he worked to hard to make a living. Anywhere in Aitutaki, when he starts singing, heads turn, music stops and bears are popped open.

Riki owns a restaurant that he named after his oldest daughter: Asti’s Bar and Restaurant – now guess the name of the girl! He asked, if I could, to promote it a little on my travel site. Because he promised he’d pay me with 6 beers of my choice ( ‘including Heineken’, and I quote) I have to honor my contract. I took pictures of his restaurant built out of rum, whiskey and wine bottles. I told him: ‘A whole lot of work with these walls, there are 10 000 bottles here’. He replied: ‘Yeah, as soon as I was out of material I called my friends and we’d make some more’. To make the picture whole, I also took his picture. He’s a hell of a man, and the white hair makes him even more charming.

If you’ll end up in Aitutaki in the near future – and I wish you would – don’t forget to go by his restaurant. It’s open from Wednesday to Sunday, if the owner wants it to be open. I’d recommend Parrot Fish with coconut sauce and Mahi Mahi with garlic sauce. And for desert, a light cocktail called Star Fruit – it only has vodka, tequila and campari, to quote Riki. And of course, some of his music.

Love Riki. There are few like him left in the world.