A Chef's Life, Chef Donny Kumala of Cafe Batavia on Being a Chef in a Restaurant and in a Hotel

Friday, 11 October 2019 | 15:29 WIB
  • Special talk on the chef's special
    Special talk on the chef's special

    Also, since childhood, Cafe Batavia has become my favorite place when visiting Kota Tua with my parents. The fact that I joined my childhood’s favorite restaurant is just amazing.

    Most of Cafe Batavia’s best-seller food are Indonesian cuisine. We know really well that Indonesian cuisine is known for its eclectic and exotic taste. Some guests might not like it, especially foreign tourists. How do you handle this problem?

    The “exotic” taste from coconut oil or turmeric is not a problem. Almost all of Cafe Batavia’s guests appreciate Indonesian food greatly. Most of their concerns are about the spiciness.

    Therefore, we separate every spicy condiment from the main dish, so that they can add the spiciness up to their liking. I understand that the original presentation is combining sambal with the dish, but we decided not to do this.

    Cafe Batavia’s slogan is “A Must Visit for Tourist in Jakarta”. In terms of food, why tourists in Jakarta should eat at Cafe Batavia?

    Most of Indonesian restaurants sell cuisine from particular region only, such as Padangnese restaurant or Warteg (i.e short for Warung Tegal, a food stall serving food in budget-friendly price). Also, tourists tend to visit Indonesia for a short time.

    We would like to serve Indonesian food in one place. They don’t need to go to Bali to taste sambal matah, or go to Manado to taste salmon gohu.

    We curate all signature dishes drom all province in Indonesia, serving them in an aesthetic platting. Cafe Batavia also guarantees the quality of every ingredient.

    Then, what do you do to guarantee Cafe Batavia’s high quality?

    Most of the ingredients are delivered daily, and we also prioritize to use local ingredients first. All of vegetables, spices, and seafood are from local farmers.

    For beef and poultry, we import them from Australia. I think that more than 80% ingredients are locals.

    In terms of management, Cafe Batavia also holds frequent training and review. Every steward and chef is under a tight SOP.

    Sera B
    David Togatorop
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