FARE A FAMILY LEGACY
Devoted to Indonesian street food, Broadbeach’s newest eatery isn’t just a taste of tradition – it’s the bittersweet realisation of a long-held dream
DESPITE its cheery shopfront at the Oasis Shopping Centre, new Indonesian street food eatery Skewers is opening on a sad note.
Its ebullient owner Josh Budiman passed away only a month ago, just a few weeks short of seeing his much dreamt-of Gold Coast restaurant open its doors. He was the driving force of the husband and wife team who set up the first Skewers in Toowoomba two years ago, with a vision to open a Gold Coast outlet as soon as the right location came up.
His widow Lindra Cahya says she’s still in shock but has no choice but to forge on with her husband’s hopes for the Broadbeach store.
“He had such big plans to take Skewers around Australia,” Lindra says. “He was like that, so many ideas and hardworking. He made a lot of sacrifices and I’m just finishing what he set out to do.”
The new Skewers will follow the formula that’s proven such a success in Toowoomba. Not surprisingly, the menu centres around marinated, skewered meat, tofu and vegetables, cooked in traditional Indonesian village style over an open charcoal grill.
There is also a selection of crispy spring rolls, wontons, dumplings, popular pork belly baos and traditional Rendang curries.
The grand Indonesian banquet features up to 10 items, giving customers a taste of the most popular dishes.
“We could see there was not a lot of Indonesian food in Queensland and it was always our dream to share the tastes of our homeland with Australians,” Lindra says.
Lindra came to Australia as a university student in Melbourne where she studied marketing. Her husband was an engineer with Boeing and was transferred to Toowoomba in 2012.
“We really just wanted to work for ourselves,” Lindra says.
“We took the big step of opening Skewers in Toowoomba and it was very well received.
“We had good support from locals, the business community and our church. We worked hard but we gathered a good team around us and Josh always wanted our second store to be on the Gold Coast.” The couple moved here only two months ago with their daughters, aged eight and six, to oversee the fit-out of the Broadbeach store and steer it along the same successful path as their Toowoomba venture.
Josh passed away just three weeks before it opened, leaving Lindra to carry on as best she can.
“It will be a challenge for me with my daughters,” she says. “But I know it’s what Josh would want me to do. I am grieving but I am doing what I can to make Skewers everything my husband wanted it to be. I hope Gold Coasters will love our Indonesian food. Josh would be very happy about that.”
Skewers, Oasis Shopping Centre, Broadbeach