Epicure (Indonesia)

EELKE PLASMEIJER & RAY ADRIANSYAH

LOCAVORE

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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.”

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