'Halal' Swiss restaurant here

JAKARTA (JP): A new franchise restaurant combining Swiss ambience and guaranteed halal (passed Moslem rules) food opened Saturday in the business and diplomatic district of Kuningan in South Jakarta.

On the ground floor of the Graha Surya Internusa building on Jl. HR Rasuna Said Kav. X-0, the Movenpick Marche restaurant offers a wide selection of fresh Indonesian, Asian and European dishes in a setting designed like a Swiss market place.

"Diners can see the dishes as they are prepared before them and are invited to wander from one market stall to another to see the selected products and choose whatever appeals to them," said Movenpick Marche's managing director for the Asia-Pacific region, Bruno Schoepfer, at the opening.

With a total investment of US$2.8 million funded by its local franchise partner, PT Wahana Sempurna, the restaurant is the first Movenpick Marche outlet in Indonesia.

Marche's director of international franchise, Christian Nothhaft, guaranteed that all the food was halal, fresh and of high quality.

Established in 1948, Movenpick Enterprises is a group of international firms, dealing with food outlets, hotels and consumer goods.

The first Movenpick Marche restaurant was in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1983. It has grown into a chain of 60 restaurants in 13 countries, such as Austria, Britain, Italy, Canada, Israel, Korea and Hong Kong. (bsr)