TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Temporary takeover a way for restaurants to improve visibility
Despite being about nine months into the pandemic and with travel restrictions still effective in many places, restaurant takeovers have not faded away –albeit with limitations.
Change Size
I
t has been common for restaurants to host a guest chef for many reasons, from enticing prospective guests to exposing kitchen teams to new skills and ideas. We often saw this practice before the pandemic, witnessing chefs and their teams travel from one place to another for a temporary takeover. Despite being about nine months into the pandemic and with travel restrictions still effective in many places, restaurant takeovers have not faded away –albeit with limitations.
Many restaurants in Jakarta, therefore, have been playing host to representatives of their counterparts from Bali, in collaborations that are expected to be mutually beneficial for them. The former expect to lure customers with limited edition menus they create with their Bali-based counterparts, while the latter can get the opportunity to increase sales, as opposed to remaining in the now-quiet Bali.
Mauri restaurant, known for serving Italian contemporary cuisine in Seminyak, Bali, is among many of those that have departed from Bali, in this case for a week of residency in Jakarta back in mid-November.
Maurizio Bombini, chef owner of Mauri restaurant, told The Jakarta Post in an email that it took him and his team around a month to prepare for the trip.
“[The preparations] were not so complicated because we came [to Jakarta] in January 2020, so we knew exactly what would be needed,” said Maurizio, who goes by the name Mauri –just like the name of the restaurant- with his friends and family.
He went on to say that equipment and kitchen tools were already available at Raffles Hotel Jakarta’s The Dining Room (TDR), where the restaurant was doing its residency.
As for Mauri’s decision to do a residency at TDR, he said that he was looking for a place in Jakarta to expand his restaurant’s visibility, and the previously successful collaboration with the host encouraged him to return.
Mauri also said his restaurant had a solid relationship with food suppliers that also operated in Jakarta, so that the residency could run well and be easily organized.
“In terms of safety, we all had to go through rapid tests before flying [from Bali to Jakarta] and show the results upon check-in and arrival. The safety protocols in the airports and planes were really good, and the ground handling staff were very professional. It was a very smooth journey despite what people might imagine,” said Mauri.
An innovation in culinary concepts
Raffles Hotel Jakarta’s TDR itself has a rather unusual concept. It regards itself not as a restaurant nor meeting room. The venue is versatile as it is able to cater to various private events from birthdays and weddings to product launches.
“Its biggest surprise is a fully integrated show kitchen with the latest technology,” Mirah Marhaendra, Raffles Hotel Jakarta’s assistant director of marketing and communication, told the Post.
TDR is known among fine-food enthusiasts as an establishment that has hosted notable chefs from Singapore to Hong Kong. Its launch was marked with a line-up of guest chefs including chef Ton from Le Du, Bangkok; chef Julien Royer from Singapore’s three-Michelin-starred Odette and chef Kirk Westaway from Singapore’s JAAN. It has also played host to Hong Kong’s Wagyu Mafia as well as Bali’s Locavore.
Mirah said that hosting Odette’s Royer was among the most exciting events, as the tables were sold in a flash, resulting in a long waiting list.
Meanwhile, availability of ingredients according to the guest chefs’ recipes can be a challenge. Mirah recalled that Wagyu Mafia had to hand-carry the meat, and Mauri had to do the same with some Alba truffles.
As to whether the price of each menu could be adjusted to the pandemic situation, Mirah said that most chefs were likely to creatively tailor their menus and adjust some items to fit with the current market.
“The [chefs] will launch various set menus that the guests can choose,” she says.
Seeing the enthusiasm of Jakarta’s foodies for the guest chef takeovers, the event could be seen as a way for restaurants –as well as hospitality and food and beverage (F&B) establishments in general- to maintain their visibility, and hence be able to stay in business.
Mauri is hoping that those who have savored his cooking at TDR can become his restaurant’s loyal guests when they come and visit Bali.
