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Currently in demand: Private novelty dining
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T
he transitional period of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), as well as preparations to welcome the era of new health protocols, has given some restaurants in Jakarta the confidence to resume business.
Some restaurants, particularly those at five-star hotels, have complied with certified health and safety standards, including limiting available seats, giving guests a spacious area at a safe distance from other guests, providing digital menus and making sure that restaurant staff wear face masks and or face shields.
Raffles Hotel Jakarta’s The Dining Room (TDR) is one of those five-star hotel restaurants back in operation, boasting a fully integrated show kitchen and a main dining area with a view of surrounding city lights. Its launch back in September 2019 was marked with collaborations involving guest chefs from Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The current program at TDR since its return in mid-July is “Karbon by TDR”, serving a charcoal-grilled flavored menu created by Argentinian executive chef Matias Ayala, in which he uses different charcoals to bring out more pronounced flavors and aromas of premium meats, seafood and vegetables cooked using the Josper grill.
Among the ingredients presented at “Karbon by TDR” are dry-aged wagyu tenderloin, king crab, tiger prawns, Chilean seabass and 48-hour beef short ribs. The menu is paired with smoky concoctions such as the “Carbontini” using charcoal-smoked vodka, or the “Wagyu Old Fashioned”, which features a wagyu-infused bourbon.
“Karbon by TDR” will run until the end of August, available for dinner every Thursday to Sunday. It requires advance reservation and only limited seats are available, especially as it ensures each guest has at least 5 square meters of space. Its menu is digital, and restaurant staff wear face masks and face shields, as required by the health and safety guidelines ALLSafe label that AccorHotels had created with Bureau Veritas.
It is understood that dining experiences such as the one offered by TDR are in demand, as certain people seek to enjoy novelty dining in a place they consider safe. And apart from catering to guests at TDR, Raffles also welcomes guests who are interested in private dining at the hotel suites.
Mirah Marhaendra, assistant director of marketing communications at Raffles Hotel Jakarta, said that private dining events take place at the hotel’s Gallery suite only for two guests at a time.
“[The private dining] is available for lunch and dinner, [with] a prepared set menu and there will be private servers too. For more than two guests, special arrangements must be made, due to the venue [availability],” said Mirah.
Dining in an exclusive setting is also in high demand at Fairmont Hotel Jakarta, which caters to that type of culinary experience through one of its restaurants, VIEW at its 22nd floor.
Guests dining at VIEW can choose from selections of a la carte items comprising Pre-View (appetizer), Main-View (main course) and Sweet-View (desserts), or trust the chef with his degustation tasting set menu, available in a three- or five-course menu, or even the 12-course plant-based menu.
An appetizer at VIEW could be named as simple as “wolf’s peach”, which materializes in tomatoes in different forms from fresh, confit, powdered, glass, sorbet to consommé jelly, all in just one small plate.
According to chef Patrese Vito who leads the culinary team at VIEW, the name “wolf’s peach” refers to the history of tomato that had been seen as an exotic produce known with different names. It was once called “love apple” due to the association of being an aphrodisiac, or “wolf’s peach” by those who thought that it was poisonous.
The freshness of “Wolf’s Peach” is a suitable start for the degustation menu that builds up to see the main course, Kiwami 9+ callote de boeuf, served with ris de veau and marrow jus.
Vito and Felicia Setiawan, director of marketing communications at Fairmont Hotel Jakarta, said that the culinary experience offered at VIEW had appealed to many customers since the restaurant reopened after the PSBB were eased.
“Many of our guests come late at night,” said Vito, who is also in charge of Pod Dining, the hotel’s dining venue, which is inspired by the popular igloo pod dining trend in Europe.
First introduced to celebrate Valentine’s Day earlier this year, Pod Dining with its glass walls can only fit two people and is pretty much suitable for the current situation in which social distancing is a must. There is only one pod available for dinner time every day, and at the time of writing, it is said to have already received six reservations for August, and a few more until October.
While the type of food offered at VIEW and Pod Dining is not suitable for delivery and takeaway, Vito said that during the PSBB, the restaurant’s loyal customers ordered private dining with himself as the chef at their homes.
“The demand for private dining during the PSBB came from customers who were celebrating special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries,” said Vito.
