On top of the hill: Rindu Alam restaurant in Puncak, Bogor, West Java.(TribunnewsBogor.com/Naufal Fauzy)

Once known as a legendary culinary landmark providing a vista of the heavenly greenery of Puncak, Bogor, West Java, the Rindu Alam restaurant is now an empty building. It was officially closed down by the local authority late last month.

The famous restaurant had been around for 41 years and was a significant tourist attraction as it was perched on a cliff overlooking the Mount Mas tea plantation. The Bogor administration shuttered the restaurant as the land-use contract had expired.

The restaurant was an icon of Puncak, a popular weekend destination for Greater Jakarta residents.

Proboyanti, a resident of Karadenan village in Bogor regency, said the charm of Rindu Alam never ceased to amaze her. She recalled having lunch at the restaurant fondly.

“The view it offered was magnificent. No wonder the restaurant was quite a hit back then,” she told The Jakarta Post recently.

While many regretted the closure of the restaurant, some were unmoved as they said Rindu Alam had not benefitted them.

“Only the rich could afford to dine at the restaurant. Also, the restaurant didn’t even hire anyone from the local villages. So the closure had no effect on us,” said a resident of Cibulao village, Cisarua district, who declined to be identified by name.

Agus, an officer of from the Cisarua Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), said that the closure was under the supervision of the West Java authority.

A project is underway to expand the principal road in Puncak, which is infamous for its congestion during weekends and public holidays.

Ernan Rustiadi, a public planning expert from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), said that the Rindu Alam restaurant was built on an area of major environmental significance; thus, it was controlled under Bogor’s land use and spatial regulation scheme.

He said the establishment of the restaurant was initially controversial as former president Soeharto had allegedly given special permission to retired military general Ibrahim Adjie to make use of the state-owned land in Bogor.

Ernan said such permission was rarely given as regulations strictly controlled land use in the Puncak area of Bogor.

With its privileged setting, Rindu Alam restaurant offered high-end tables just a few miles from the busy city of Jakarta, amid vast tea plantations and national parks.

But the exclusivity did not last long as former president Abdurahman “Gus Dur” Wahid allowed the public to make use of the land for businesses during his administration in the reform era. The regulation made way for development as verdant forest gave way to modern restaurants, hotels and villas. Street vendors are now almost everywhere in the Puncak area.

The thriving new businesses in Puncak were bad news for Rindu Alam, as visitors had more affordable options. The situation affected the restaurant years before it was officially closed down. The establishment of Cipularang toll road connecting Greater Jakarta to Bandung, West Java, in 2015 also took a toll on business as the Puncak road was no longer the main road to Bandung. (trn)