Photos Courtesy Fairmont Jakarta

The Fairmont Jakarta is offering a zingy take on Italy'€™s zeppole '€œdonuts'€

WORDS Kevindra P. Soemantri

In the 1970s, Western-style pastries were considered extravagant by diners in Jakarta'€”at least until the Sakura Anpan bakery on Jl. Sabang began a craze with its beautifully constructed fruit pies.

Jumping ahead a few years, local gastronomes were surprised when Union Brasserie introduced red velvet cake to their palates, leading to the cake's epidemic expansion in local restaurants.

There was, of course, also Dominique Ansel'€”Manhattan'€™s so-called '€œPrince of Pastries'€'€”renowned for creating the cronut and who inspired the Mandarin Cake Shop at the Mandarin Oriental hotel to introduce that fusion pastry to the city.

Now, those seeking a taste of la dolce vita should prepare themselves: The Sapori Deli at the Fairmont hotel is fixing to introduce the zeppola, the classic Italian donut/beignet, to the capital.

While zeppole are thought to have been popularized in Rome, early recipes can be found in the works of the famous Neapolitan gastronome Ippolito Cavalcanti in 1837, according to Ecompania.

The donuts are currently popular throughout southern Italy, such as in Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and even further south, in Malta.

In Italy, zeppole are typically served with a touch of powdered sugar or fresh cream, made of fried choux pastry, filled with pastry or chatilly cream and topped with candied or amarene sour cherries.

Their hollow centers can also be filled with almost anything.

In Naples, zeppole are typically baked or fried and can be savory, sometimes using kelp or anchovies as a filling; while Sicilian versions use flour, rice, orange honey or powdered sugar.

The sumptuous pastry is typically associated with Mardi Gras, which marks the approach of Easter in the Catholic faith, or with the feast days of saints, such as St. Joseph on March 19, which coincides with Italian Father'€™s Day.

At the Sapori Deli, executive pastry chef Sapto and executive chef Andrew are for a limited time offering zeppole with a host of fillings, including strawberry shortcake, tiramisu, delectable Guanaja Balinese chocolate, hipster-friendly Nutella, vanilla bean, funky lemon soda pop, dulche de leche, black forest, matcha, Earl Grey tea and, yes, red velvet.

If you are a connoisseur of patisserie, you will find that a zeppola resembles a French religiuse, save that it is larger.

I found it a total pleasure to enjoy every single bite of the zeppole I sampled at the Fairmont recently.

The lemon soda pop version was uniquely entertaining: A duet of elegant pastry and tangy lemon that was beautifully (and deliciously) odd.

The delicate pastry cream was suddenly made alive by pop-rock candy hidden inside stream of cream that gently exploded when taking a bite.

Curiosity allured me to taste the black forest zeppola, which prompted a feeling of déjà vu.

I was reminded of how more than four decades ago in the 1970s, Sari Deli at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel also became famous for introducing black forest cake to Jakarta'€”and there I was, at Sapori Deli, tempted to eat black forest in its newest form.

The black-forest zeppola had candied pitted cherries inside its creamy filling and a dark chocolate ganache on top. The tart sourness of the cherry combined with the mellow sweetness of the cream, while the ganache added a signature black forest flavor.

Ippolito Cavalcanti would be proud.
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MOVABLE FEASTS

RUTH'S CHRIS LANDS IN JAKARTA

Ruth'€™s Chris Steak House just opened its first restaurant in Indonesia on Feb. 13. The international food chain is known for its New Orleans-style luxury dining menus'€”and most notably its USDA prime steaks.

The restaurant, Ruth's Chris' 10th in Asia, was opened on the ground floor of Somerset Apartments in South Jakarta.

 Each steak at Ruth'€™s Chris is cooked in a 982 degree oven using methods developed by founder Ruth Fertel 50 years ago. JPlus

INTRODUCING ROBO HOSPITALITY

Visit the newly-opened Rong Heng Seafood restaurant at the East Coast Seafood Center in Singapore, and you will be greeted by a robot in a red apron holding a tray.

Once you'€™re seated, your food will be delivered by two other robots '€“Lucy and Mary'€“dressed with scarves around their necks. Other robots will dance to hit songs like "Gangnam Style" by South Korean star Psy to entertain you during your visit.

The restaurant's owners are using robots designed in Japan and made in China to deal with human power shortage, a common problem faced by the food and beverage industry in Singapore. ANN/Straits Times

AKIRA WATANABE OPENS 'PASTA HOUSE' IN PLAZA INDONESIA

AWkitchen Pasta House recently opened on the second floor of Plaza Indonesia, two years after Akira Watanabe started serving his unique brand of Japanese-Italian food at Plaza Senayan.

The pasta house itself was originally founded in Tokyo by Watanabe and is named after him.

Some of the chain'€™s notable dishes include '€œBlack Angus Beef Tataki with Soy Truffle Sauce'€ and '€œSpaghettini in Garlic Oil with Spicy Cod Roe and Japanese Mushroom'€.

Watanabe was on hand on Feb. 19 for the launch at Plaza Indonesia, as was the gamine actress Raline Shah. Chef Akira celebrated with a live cooking session that showed off his 20 years'€™ of cooking experience. JPlus

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Sapori Deli

Fairmont Jakarta hotel
No., Jl. Asia Afrika No.8, Jakarta,
Zeppole week runs from Feb. 22 to 29
fairmont.com/jakarta