Home-style Dining

Photography By Bagus Tri Laksono
9/2/2018

Grand Hyatt Jakarta is located right in front of the famed Welcome Monument roundabout. True to its name, it welcomes everyone who comes to the city. The hotel has been offering a similar greeting to its guests for over 27 years, and now its newly renovated Grand Café restaurant offers a unique dining experience. At Grand Hyatt Jakarta’s signature restaurant, guests can enjoy Indonesian dishes prepared à la minute to their liking in the setting of an Indonesian home.

The all-day dining restaurant, one of the most-frequent visited dining destinations at the hotel, was closed down for a full renovation earlier this year and reopened in its new guise in May 2018 to the delight of the hotel’s loyal customers.

The management was looking to create not only a homey and comfortable ambiance, but also to replicate the experience of visiting an Indonesian home. This required a unique design approach: envisioning the house of a well-travelled Indonesian man. “We imagined walking into his home – passing from one room to another, touching the ethnic cushions, admiring the art pieces he had collected throughout the archipelago or simply enjoying the comfort of his home,” says Denny Wasana, the F&B assistant director of Grand Hyatt Jakarta.

The new look of Grand Café was designed by renowned hospitality interior design consultant Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA), which combined earthy and natural tones of wood, marble tiles, chinaware and a touch of Dutch colonial architecture. The restaurant’s dining space is divided into several dining sections that make you feel as if you’re walking into an Indonesian home. Each dining section is unique and different from one another and can be joined together to create a semi-private room.

Remaining true to the theme, the restaurant displays hues of colourful Indonesian traditional fabrics, a medley of bronze artworks, vases and wood carvings from different parts of the archipelago. The artworks in all the rooms were curated by Grahacipta Hadiprana, an Indonesian firm that is celebrated for their indigenous design.

Located at the entrance, the Veranda is the first dining section at Grand Café and is designed with an open feel that allows you to see the live cooking stations in the kitchen as well as having a view of the Grand Lobby. Next to the Veranda is the Parlour, where you will find a bar and a communal table that seats up to 20 people. As you walk further into the restaurant, there is the Dining Room for casual dining and the Lounge area, which has a warmer ambiance for families and couples. The Lounge’s statement piece is an arrangement of antique colonial plates that have been kept from the old Grand Café. For those seeking a more intimate space, there are two private dining rooms, each seating up to 10 guests alongside the Lounge and the Dining Room.

In the centre of the restaurant you will find one of the biggest dining areas, the Gallery, which can seat up to 28 guests. Adjacent to the Gallery, the Study Room is where most of the crafts, collections and souvenirs can be found. The furthest dining section from the entrance has one of the best views. The Balcony grants you an immediate view of the Welcome Monument roundabout and the bustling MH Thamrin street below. Due to the large windows, the Balcony is filled with natural light during the day and cosy lighting at night.

As in most homes, the Kitchen is located next to the Dining Room near the entrance. In keeping with the overall design concept, the buffet offers a range of Indonesian specialties as well as international favourites. The dishes are truly prepared “fresh from the kitchen” as the restaurant offers a made-to-order buffet, which can be tailored to your liking. The five live-cooking stations, wok, grill, soup, steam and pastry, are where you can personalise your dish to suit individual tastes. Their signature dishes include Sop Buntut, Nasi Goreng, Rawon Daging and Asinan Kecombrang.

The Grand Café emphasises local flavours and home-style dining. Therefore the chefs strive to serve delicious food using the freshest ingredients and pride themselves on working with local farmers. By implementing Hyatt’s Food Philosophy, thoughtfully sourced and carefully served, Grand Café aims to provide food and beverage options outstanding for their guests and the local community, at the same time preserving the environment for the next generation.

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Barbara Hahijary
Author
Barbara earned her bachelor's degree in architecture from the Interior Architecture Program of the University of Indonesia in 2013. Historical or heritage buildings, as well as utilitarian design, fascinates her as it is the interaction between people and architecture that remains her favourite topic to explore. Besides architecture, her interests include design, handcrafts, literature and social issues.
Bagus Tri Laksono
Photographer