Food festival: Visitors enjoy food at the annual Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta on Friday. (JP/P.J. Leo)

Local culinary delights such a variety of soto (soup) are on the menu at La Piazza open hall, Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta during the 2009 Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival (JFFF) .

The City Tourism and Culture Agency and PT Summarecon Agung Tbk have held the annual festi-val, which will last until May 23, since 2003.

Seven kinds of soto, Chinese-Indonesian food, gado-gado, otak-otak and many other local dishes are on offer at dozens of food stalls and carts, as local food sellers and street vendors from Kelapa Gading area were invited to take part in this festival.

Visitors can also enjoy a wide selection of wine and cheeses from 10 countries until May 17.

Festival goers will experience a unique payment system, consisting of fake old bills they can use to pay for food or beverages in exchange for their real money.

"It's a lot of fun! I had to exchange my Rp 1,000 *less than US$0.1* bill for the fake Rp 1 to be able to buy food and drinks," said Nabila, a 12th-grader from a state high school.

French festival goer Genevieve Hodde said: "I am not quite satisfied with this festival as most of the food provided is from Java. It would have been more interesting if the organizer had provided dishes from across the archipelago."

However, Hodde was happy she could watch the stall chefs cook their dishes.

The festival experience for vendors was a mixed one.

"I am very happy to have been given the opportunity to open my stall here. I have already earned quite a bit since the first day of the festival," said Maman, a snack seller.

"After this festival, I will take my family travelling out of town," he added enthusiastically.

Unlike Maman, a vendor selling otak-otak (fish cake), Iskandar Cahyono said he was disappointed few buyers visited his stall, blaming it on his stall's location.

"I will probably give up if my otak-otak does not sell well until this weekend," he said.

The festival management will not charge him for his stall, but take a 20 percent of his profits instead.

This year, the festival management said it wanted to promote an environmentally friendly lifestyle movement, as indicated in the event's theme, Locafore.

"We don't use styrofoam in this festival," said general manager of PT Summarecon Agung Cut Meutia.

Three different bins are also provided to separate organic, plastic and recyclable waste. (nia)

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