EELKE PLASMEIJER & RAY ADRIANSYAH
LOCAVORE
Ranked 37 in Asia’s 50
Best Restaurants 2020 and Indonesia’s only entry to the prestigious list, Locavore was founded in 2013 by chef Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah in Ubud, Bali. Changing the game and pushing the boundary with sustainably sourced local ingredients has always been the soul of Locavore. Over the years, the enterprise has expanded to include the butchery Local Parts, casual bistro Locavore To Go, Indonesian restaurant Nusantara, cocktail bar Night Rooster, and the backbone of its progressive cuisine, LOCALAB.
POWER OF CHANGE
“When international borders were being closed, we received cancellation after cancellation until we had no choice but to close Locavore. From the beginning, we’ve done everything we could to stay afloat. We created readyto-eat hampers, vegetable basket, Indonesian food tiffin delivery, many things. We simply refuse to give up. We managed to keep our entire team until today. Having different business models also helped us to create various dining offers. As soon as the situation allowed us to travel, we went to Jakarta, Surabaya and Semarang with our team, doing pop-ups and restaurant takeovers. Bali is home but we also actively seek opportunities beyond the island”.
KEY TO SUCCESS
“Sustainability and showcasing local ingredients remain our priority. Our colleague at LOCALAB, Felix Schoener continues to experiment, producing marvels that we use on our menus. The bright side of this pandemic gave us the opportunity to go to different cities in Indonesia, sharing our explorations of local ingredients to many Indonesians who have never been to Locavore. We also managed to launch two tasting menus, Pancaroba and Rintik Rintik.”
NAVIGATING THE FUTURE
“We are done looking back and now we have set our gaze to the future. Locavore 2.0 is set to open next year in a new location in Lodtunduh, Ubud. We will move the lab, build a dedicated fermentation facility, koji room and garden there.”