Spotlight: Melting Pot
Chef Hendry Sedjahtera is on a quest to find the fusion point between Western and Eastern cuisines
All about one of Surabaya’s finest dining destinations and the chef behind it
Surabaya is the secondlargest metropolis in Indonesia and one in which the economy is thriving—a fact that is often celebrated at one of the city’s finest establishments, Citrus Lee. Citrus Lee serves a fusion of French and Asian menu with omakase offerings, or the chef ’s menu, such as premium steaks from Japan, Australia, and the US, and pasta Capellini with homemade black truffle paste and chilled smoked salmon in a black tea-vanilla infusion.
Owner-chef Hendry Sedjahtera, the thirdgeneration in his culinary family, leads the team; his grandfather and father both opened Cantonese-style restaurants in Malang in East Java. Since he was 6, Hendry had always loved cooking thanks to the countless hours spent playing, helping out, and learning to cook in his kitchen. “My father used to tell me that,
‘If you can cook, you will never starve to death,” Hendry said.
Then, for 24 years, Hendry lived abroad in Singapore, Boston, and Paris. Although he enjoyed many wonderful experiences during those years, there were also culture shocks and clashes of identity between Eastern and Western cultures and values—until he met chefs Ming Tsai and Susur Lee, who inspired him to be true to himself. “I realised that to dream is to do it with our own personality, and that cooking is always in my blood,” Hendry said.
This realisation helped crystalised and inspired Hendry’s path to learn cooking
French cuisine in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu, which was followed by a stint at Michelinstarred restaurants at Le Chiberta, Paris, and Saint Pierre, Singapore, before opening Citrus Lee. “The biggest challenge in opening a finedining restaurant in Surabaya is that the city is still in the development phase of understanding the meaning of fine dining,” said Hendry.
He further explained that the media and consumers there are focusing on fine dining’s aspects of ambience, presentation, and value for money, without much thought yet about the deeper layers of tastes and flavours. Hendry believes that the restaurant industry in Indonesia should play a huge role of educating consumers about the value of new idea and creativity, as well respecting the freshness and quality of ingredients more. “The whole industry need to do it together because explaining honestly about food ingredients to our consumers, by valuing and respecting each ingredient, requires a lot of time and effort,” he said.
With the success of Citrus Lee and its French-asian menus, Hendry now wishes to fuse Chinese and French cuisines to celebrate his family’s legacy and his own expertise; however, the market is not ready for Chinese-french fusion menus. “Firstly, the philosophies between Chinese and
French cuisines are completely different, right from the taste and the texture to the preparation, and presentation,” he said. “Secondly, our consumers are still in favour of classical Chinese cuisine, and it takes time and effort to break the norm: I hope someday my dream of marrying them together will work in the future.”