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span class="inline inline-left">After making his mark with two award-winning restaurants in Bali, Scottish chef Will Meyrick comes to Jakarta — a move he considers a milestone in his career and culinary dream.

The chef, who has made Indonesia his home, recently opened E&O (Eastern and Oriental) — his latest venture and first restaurant in Jakarta.

“I want to make an impact in Indonesia and also internationally. We felt we need to set up and grow the market in Jakarta because it is the heartbeat of Indonesia,” Meyrick says.

Meyrick said he wants to help the culinary business in Indonesia to grow, pushing it more toward more personable restaurants.

“It used to be that the only place you can get good food was hotels. Now that has changed. In the future, the more restaurants opening up that are boutique restaurant and not franchises, the better,” he said.

He also wants to offer help to people who have not had the opportunity to develop their businesses they way they want and help them grow.

“I want to see chefs do well because of their skill, not because of who they are and their connections,” Meyrick says.

With a number of partners, Meyrick made his name in the culinary world with two restaurants in Bali — the fine-dining flagship Sarong and the newer and more stylish Mama San.

Sarong has been considered among the top Asian restaurants for some time and E&O is mainly focused on Thai cuisine with a bit of Vietnemese, but with a unique concept.

“Thai is our strongest suit. I’ve been doing it for a long time so it was an obvious, easy choice. No one here has really done Thai in bistro high-end feel. So we put a twist, elevate it and present a modern, chic Thai restaurant,” he says.

Meyrick fell in love with the spices, flavors and textures of Asian cuisine during his travels through Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in the late 90’s.

“I love the stories behind Asian street food. Food resembles a country; from food you can learn about it history and culture,” he said.

Considering his current place in culinary world, it is surprising that cooking was not something Meyrick dreamed of doing as a young boy.

He was born in Italy and had lived in Portugal, which introduced him to variety of food.

“I remember the first dish I made was tablet, a Scottish fudge-like sweet. I did it with my mum when I was 5 or 6,” he said.

For him, love of cooking was something he found later, in his adolescence.

“As a teenager I was a naughty boy, bermasalah, I failed all my exams. When all my friends went to university and got more serious, I too felt I needed to do something.

“I had the choice of doing physical education because I had run and skied for Scotland in a lot of competitions, or doing a cooking course.”

His decision was to go for the cooking course, believing that the kitchen had a stern structure and system which would give him guidance he needed as a teenager.

“When you did a dish right, you’re praised. That’s the sense of satisfaction and achievement that I needed too,” he says.

After a one-year course, Meyrick headed for London and had his first experience of working in a professional kitchen at  L’Oranger, which was run by Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing. He lasted about six weeks.

“I didn’t know the difference between chervil and rosemary. For three weeks I was only allowed to skim the stock,” he said.

“In London, the kitchen is hard. You’re treated like an idiot and told you’re an idiot. As quickly as you’re hired, you get fired. You never stay in one job for more than a year.

“The good thing in London is you can knock on any door, show them you can hold the knife, you can hold the potato peeler; you’re in.”

Meyrick stayed in London for four years, working in five restaurants, including Harvey Nichols, The Collection, Daphne’s and The Avenue.

Then he decided to go traveling around South America, Southeast Asia and Australia landing in Sydney, where he saw a gap in the market — there weren’t many chefs cooking Asian and if there were, only few were any good.

And soon, his Thai food creations at two restaurants —  Jimmy Liks and Longrain — were a success.

“While working in Sydney, I visited Bali almost every year before I realized that it would be cool to work there,” Meyrick said on his decision to take the plunge and relocate to the Island of Gods.

In between running his two restaurants, in the last two years, he had been on different corners of the archipelago — from Aceh; Bukittinggi and Padang in West Sumatra; Toraja, Manado, Palu and Makassar in Sulawesi — exploring the local food and cultures.

However, his favorite food was a simple one — instant noodle, poached egg and chopped chili. “I eat it a lot — you can’t go wrong with that,” he smiled.

With cooking as a day job, Meyrick said that he also cooked a lot at home with his wife Wati, who is a Sundanese.

“She comes with me on pretty much all of my trips, which include India, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. We learn about local food and cook everywhere we go. She picks up a lot of ideas, so we cook a lot,” he says.

Asked about his opinion on why some women found men with cooking skills sexy, Meyrick laughed and said as a married man he could not comment much.

“Basically, I think cooking is a form of art and chefs are creative and outgoing. The kitchen is also about control, maybe they like to see someone in control, maybe,” he says.

Speaking about his long term goals, Meyrick jokingly said he want to find himself sitting on a beach drinking pina coladas at 40.

“That would be great, but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he said with a laugh.

— Photos Courtesy of Will Meyrick