IN THE 2½ years since former Sydneysider Kath Townsend
took on the executive chef role at luxury Ubud resort Maya, she has
witnessed a momentum that shows no signs of slowing.
''This season has been insane … and my first one was a
record for Bali, despite the global financial crisis in Australia,''
Townsend says. ''The high season used to start at the end of June; now
it starts at the beginning, even in Ubud, and we're supposed to be the
village, boutique area.''
Townsend has worked in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the
Maldives, and spent several years as Bill Granger's right-hand woman at
Bills in Darlinghurst.
Ubud duck, three ways, at Maya.
She says there has been an influx of Australian chefs in
Bali. It can feel as if there are more award-winning foreign chefs and
restaurateurs there now than there are surfers, at least in the
busiest areas of Seminyak, Legian and Ubud.
Townsend reels off a few names: Stephen Moore, a former
Rockpool guy at Cocoon Beach Club in Kuta; and in Ubud, Nicolas
Lazzaroni, a chef who made a name for himself in Byron Bay and ''takes
his food very seriously at Bridges''.
''The general managers here really like Aussie chefs,''
Townsend says. ''They think we have a 'give it a go' attitude. I've
been employable in Asia because they tell me I'm not like some European
chefs; I don't have the 'this is my kitchen, stay out' attitude. We
get on with it.''
A dish at Davenport's Ku De Ta. Photo: Christopher Leggett
There are many theories about the flourishing dining
scene. One highlights the ''new'' money coming in from Jakarta, China,
Russia and India. There is also the fact that Italians and the French
have always loved Bali and, as economic woes dog Europe, the island's
value for money, great weather and exoticism make it a perfect
alternative.
Australian interest is also part of the picture: the
number of Australian tourists choosing Bali for their holidays rose
about 27 per cent (on the previous year) and was nudging 350,000 in the
first half of last year.
New Zealander Phil Davenport is executive chef at Ku De
Ta in Seminyak. Like many of his island-bound colleagues, Davenport was
known in Australia - as head chef at Bondi's Hugo's - before taking
his career on the road, including a stint at a private club in London's
Mayfair and at a boutique resort on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
The lounge and restaurant at Metis.
Davenport says he sees ''different people in different
seasons''. July for Australians, for example, August for the French and
Italians, January for the Russian Christmas revellers and Chinese New
Year for guests from Singapore and Hong Kong. Then there is the local
community, which includes a considerable French expat population of
about 25,000.
Prahran-based architect Charlie Salter designed the
stunning Metis restaurant in Kerobokan, next to Seminyak, with
Denpasar-based, Australian-educated Shinta Siregar from Nexus Studio. He
has another theory: ''Bali is like the Gold Coast for people with money
in Perth. It's just a three-hour flight, so plenty of Aussies own
properties there. Consequently, you'll see the restaurants full of an
older crowd, who are after an elegant, complete dining experience.
They're the kind of people you'll see at Sarong.''
Also in Kerobokan, Sarong is the opulent
restaurant-cum-lounge from Will Meyrick, former chef at Sydney's Jimmy
Liks and Longrain. It's a bit like Donovan's sexier, hot-blooded
sister, with plush furniture, juxtapositions of style and plenty of room
for lounging.
Maya Sari restaurant in Ubud.
Metis is fine dining as envisioned by Nicolas ''Doudou''
Tourneville and Said Alem, two men known for another popular place,
Warisan. The downstairs section of the restaurant is arranged in a U
shape. Tuck into sashimi-style scallops, or stuffed zucchini flowers,
as you look out over lily-filled ponds, which are spotlit at night.
Metis mixes food, shopping and design with boutiques and galleries
through the complex, a concept Warisan pioneered.
But it is catering that Salter says the Metis guys have
really tapped into. There is big business to be had in Bali, with
customers coming from Jakarta, China, India and elsewhere. From wedding
receptions and cocktail parties to anniversaries or corporate events,
people are looking for places outside of big hotels to host large
functions. This could mean somewhere such as Metis but also at the
large walled villas popping up all over the island.
Regular visitors to Bali have their favourites, depending
on where they stay, and new ones are constantly appearing. La Lucciola,
the thatched-roof grand dame on Seminyak beach, remains a romantic and
sentimental favourite, the kind of place at which one might pop the
question.
Gado Gado, also by the water, is a beautiful spot to tuck
into a nest of angel-hair pasta with chilli crab or a smoked-salmon
sandwich with hand-cut coleslaw for lunch. The venue's huge deck looks
out on swimmers and men selling kites and it appeals to couples and
families alike. A large tree grows up through the deck, its long, low
arm reaching down over the waiters' station, meaning the serving staff
have to limbo to get to their equipment; there's also a bar that beckons
for a sunset cocktail.
Sarong is a gorgeous night out, welcoming and serving
Asian street food that's had a million-dollar makeover. Try the
twice-cooked pork belly with mandarin slices on the side, the
salt-and-pepper squid or the naan stuffed with lamb and yoghurt.
Ku De Ta has a reputation as the place where Bali goes to
party. An elegantly sprawling design means serious diners remain
undisturbed by the drinkers on the rooftop beer garden.
What drives chefs such as Davenport to go to so much trouble to create dishes of a standard that appeals to the
Miele Guide?
''We're professionals,'' he says. ''We're going to give
the best we've got. I'm employed to do a good job. It's my career, my
legacy and reputation. We want to be known as a food destination. Chefs
don't want to just work at beach bars.''
Bebek betutu or babi guling? Best of Balinese is worth the hunt
MANY of Bali's hippest restaurants concentrate on
Mediterranean cuisine or fusion styles - indigenous Balinese cooking is
rarely the focus. Shinta Siregar, who helped design Metis in
Kerobokan, says this might be because the Asian clientele snaps up
local chefs for their private villas. ''This food is often superb and
you wouldn't be able to find it in any restaurant,'' she says.
Siregar's own live-in Javanese cook is so popular she caters for the
architect's friends and colleagues. At lunchtime she heads off on her
motorbike to deliver food.
Siregar loves Padang food of West Sumatra and cites as
favourites La Pau at Sanur, where ''mum does the cooking, great beef
rendang'', and Warung Batavia in Seminyak.
Phil Davenport enjoys eating at Bambuku in Kuta where
''they make stuff for lunch and, once it's gone, it's gone''. He says
Jimbaran Bay, home of seafood grilled with Balinese sauces, is worth
a sundown visit - Menega Cafe is a favourite.
Maya's Kath Townsend likes Ubud's healthy eating options -
Bali Buddha and Naughty Nuri's. She says these are popular with
''the EPLs'' coming to Ubud (EPL refers to visitors inspired by
Elizabeth Gilbert's book
Eat, Pray, Love). She likes to eat nasi champur, Indonesian mixed rice, and the distinctive Balinese Bumbu spice mix - ''highly medicinal''.
A member of the Slow Food movement and its founder in
Ubud, Townsend loves slow-roasted Balinese duck, bebek betutu. ''It's
marinated in a special spice mix, using the lean ducks from the rice
paddies, wrapped in banana leaves, then wrapped in coconut husks and
baked in the ground. You need to order a day in advance.''
Babi guling is Bali's famous roast pig. Townsend's diners
enjoy a version ordered in from a local roaster. Ubud is also home
to Ibu Oka, the place where Anthony Bourdain had what he called ''the
best pig ever''.
Expensive drop
WINE prices remain a sticking point everywhere you go in
Bali - in the range of $75 for a bottle of Peter Lehmann shiraz at
Metis.
While Bali is Hindu, Indonesia is a Muslim country, so
the sale of alcohol, and the taxing of it, remains tricky. Those in the
know suggest trying Chilean drops or something from California as
alternatives. The island is overpopulated with ''mixologists'', so
cocktails are plentiful and inexpensive.
If beer is more your thing, it's available at many
convenience stores. The original local tipples, Bali Hai and Bintang,
are (thankfully) now up against newcomer Storm Brewing, a pale ale full
of hoppy goodness, similar to Fat Yak. Many places also sell
Carlsberg, San Miguel and Heineken.
