Fine-dining in Jakarta: This Indonesian chef at Kindling draws inspiration from his 11-year stay in Singapore

Jakarta, the dynamic traffic-clogged business city, is undergoing a culinary renaissance. The political hub of Indonesia is dotted with casual and chain restaurants, but a slate of independent fine-dining restaurants have added pizzazz to the scene in the last four years.

Fuelled by young Indonesian chefs who have honed their craft around the world, their contemporary cuisine is bursting with creativity, filled with heart-felt story-telling and woven with the city’s diverse cultures, from Chinese to Betawi to Manadonese.

Demand is also strong, with local diners becoming well-travelled, discerning, and craving for more refined dining experiences that hit close to their hearts. With the growing trend of people travelling for food, the country hopes to attract affluent tourists by positioning itself as a gastronomy destination through the inaugural Wonderful Indonesia Gourmet programme, launched by the country’s tourism ministry in September.

The dining initiative comprised a restaurant week, involving over 100 restaurants in Jakarta and Bali in October, the roll-out of a restaurant guidebook, and there are plans for culinary tour packages next year. 

Modern Indonesian restaurant August, led by chef Hans Christian and restaurateur Budi Cahyadi, revived the city’s fine-dining momentum in 2021, which paved the way for others to open lately. In this three-part special, The Peak Singapore delves into Jakarta’s fine-dining scene.

Singaporeans dining at Kindling, a contemporary Franco-Asian restaurant that opened last December, might notice hints of familiarity. The beef course, tantalises with a green Szechuan peppercorn and coconut sauce, boasts a smoky caramel glaze and is inspired by black pepper beef in zi char restaurants.

Canapes include an umami-packed turnip cake tart with lap cheong and sakura ebi, and there are kaya toast-inspired financiers for petit fours. 

This comes as little surprise, as Kindling’s chef-owner, Vallian Gunawan, studied and worked in Singapore for 11 years. The 32-year-old recalls: “Being in Singapore exposed me to all sorts of cuisine, and the local food culture was amazing. Sometimes, I create dishes based on my food memory bank of the food I used to eat.” 

At Kindling, he describes his cuisine as “Indonesian-Chinese food done with French technique and finesse”. Take the crab custard, for example, which is an amalgamation of his comfort food memory and the velvety crab and shark’s fin soup served in Chinese weddings in Medan, where he grew up.

“At home, my mom cooked every day,” he recalls. “Dishes such as steamed egg with pork were always part of our meals.” 

Vallian’s elevated take on it has egg custard flecked with crab meat in chicken-based bouillabaisse-like stock. Upping the creamy factor are delicate strands of black moss and uni, and drizzles of sesame and chilli oil. 

Pao fan, a comforting dish of rice with broth, should resonate with many. The dish is an ode to his mother’s one-dish meal made with leftover roast meats from celebratory meals, and preserved mustard greens in fish broth.

“This dish is the cornerstone of our menu,” he says. “In Jakarta, no meal feels complete without rice.” He serves it with prized delicacies like fish maw, cooked beurre monte-style, gelatinous bits of sea cucumber and ginkgo nut, drenched in chicken bouillon.  

A Singapore start

“Kindling is very much a reflection of my time training in some of the best restaurants in the region,” Vallian sums up. In 2008, he arrived in Singapore to attend secondary school, where he met his schoolmate, Letashia Narendran, who is now Kindling’s restaurant manager. 

He went on to graduate from Republic Polytechnic with a Diploma in Restaurant and Culinary Management. While studying, he took up a part-time job at a Western food stall in a food court, preparing salads and sandwiches.

After graduation, he honed his craft at some of the top restaurants in Singapore, such as the now-defunct L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Odette, Saint Pierre, and Seasons Restaurant in Hong Kong. In 2020, he returned to Indonesia and worked at Aperitif Restaurant and popular wood-fired restaurant Skool Kitchen, both in Bali.  

Last January, Vallian visited Jakarta to check out its nascent fine-dining scene. “I was blown away by the quality of food and dining experience,” he says. “I wanted to contribute to that scene, to make it richer and more colourful.” The elegant 42-seat restaurant is located in a restored 1900s bungalow in the Menteng district. 

Cooking mainly for locals in Kindling, he shares: “Chefs in Jakarta do not want to give diners exactly the experience they had elsewhere. It has to be injected with part of our identity.” 

Jakarta’s fine-dining scene, he believes, is entering an exciting new phase. “We’re probably the last capital city in Southeast Asia to develop a fine-dining culture,” he says. “But that also means we had time to learn from our neighbours — to see what worked, what didn’t, and how far we can go.”