IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
Passion and creativity are the driving force behind these flourishing F&B and Horeca businesses. Eve Tedja shares their success stories.
Championing local art has always been Ronald Akili’s passion, as seen in the first Potato Head which opened in Jakarta in 2009. However, it was Bali’s Potato Head Beach Club that catapulted the brand into the global limelight due to its design cred, architect Andra Matin’s iconic Javanese window shutters facade, tropical lifestyle experience, F&B offerings, and incredible sunset. Together with the adjacent Katamama, a boutique hotel which was made from 1.5 million red bricks as a tribute to local craftsmanship, it is now a bonafide destination that must not be missed when one visits Bali.
Winning the inaugural Sustainable Bar Award and ranked 36 in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2018, Potato Head Beach Club now offers three distinctive restaurant concepts and one bar: Ijen (zero-waste and sustainably sourced seafood outlet), Kaum (modern Indonesian cuisine), Pizza Garden (locally sourced, Italian-inspired rooftop eatery), and Akademi (root-to-flower cocktails bar). Potato Head has also successfully expanded to Singapore and Hong Kong, offering the cosmopolitan’s cities a taste of the island-inspired F&B concepts.
The group constantly pushes the envelope in design and sustainability. Akili’s latest brainchild is Potato Head Studios. Located in the same complex with the beach club and Katamama, the 168-room beachfront hotel complex is designed by Rem Koolhaas’s OMA Studio as part of the completion of Desa Potato Head. The building is constructed from sand, stone, recycled brick and pink-pigmented concrete cast from reclaimed driftwood and crates. By this May, the Desa (meaning village in Indonesian), will feature a gallery, a library, a music recording studio, and an environmentally-driven kids club – just to name a few.
Set to be Indonesia’s first experiential village, the entire complex commits to encourage creative living as well as sustainability and zero-waste philosophy, complete with onsite recycling and composting facilities. From Tanaman, an Indonesian plant-based restaurant to the soon-to-be-opened DJ Harvey-designed underground dance club, the village is all about progressive design and future living. “The aspiration for Potato Head has always been to go from a hospitality brand to a lifestyle brand. This has been a plan 10 years in the making. Our goal is to make sustainability and social consciousness part of our lifestyle and what we provide our guests. We believe we can make beautiful products and offer genuine services, and at the same time inspire others to make a real impact in protecting Mother Nature for our next generation. Our mission is to be the best provider of good times and to do good at the same time,” states Ronald Akili.
A lot has happened since Ida Bagus Rai Budarsa founded Indonesia’s first locally-produced wine in 1994. Hatten Wines’ 45 hectares of vineyard, situated along the north coast of Bali has grown formidably. From only three grape varietals (Alphonse Lavalle, Probolinggo Biru and Muscat Saint Vallier), the vineyard has managed to grow and harvest a handful of other grape varietals in tropical viticulture. “We now have Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Shiraz, and Malvasia Nera, among others. We’ve spent years to adjust, conducting many trials and testing to make sure they grow well. It’s always been a constant work-in-progress. Fortunately, last year was a good harvest year,” says Budarsa.
Last year was also Hatten Wines’ 25th anniversary and to celebrate the occasion, the Hatten Wines range was re-launched with a new look. Through the excellent work of resident winemaker, James Kalleske who hails from Barossa Valley, South Australia, Hatten Wines now has three ranges of wine products. The original Hatten Wines range is made of seven kinds of wine, from Hatten’s first wine product, Aga Rosé to the fortified wine, Pino de Bali.
In 2007, Budarsa saw the potential of creating a consistent supply of import-quality products at better value than the heavilytaxed imported wines. Hence, the birth of TWO Islands range, where grapes from a dozen vineyards in South Australia such as Adelaide Hills and various sub-regions within the Limestone Coast are vinified in Bali. Nine well-crafted wines are created to suit the tropical island living and its vibrant cuisine. But, Budarsa and Kalleske didn’t stop there. They took it further and also launched the TWO Islands Reserve range in 2016.
Constant innovation and the desire to do more for the industry have always been the values of the company. Located in the same building as the headquarters and The Cellardoor, Hatten Education Centre (HEC) provides the much-needed extensive training programmes for the general public and professionals in the hospitality industry. Led by Kertawidyawati, Hatten Wines’ Corporate Training & Development Manager as well as the President of Indonesia Sommelier Association (ISA) Bali Chapter, it runs different classes from the short Wine and Food Pairing class to the Sommelier Programme. HEC is also the only approved WSET (Wine & Spirit Educational Trust) programme provider in Indonesia. With such a solid team and vision, there is no doubt that Hatten Winess will continue to get better with age.