Heinz van Holzen, chef extraordinaire

Heinz van Holzen, chef extraordinaire

By Grace Segran

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): On my second trip to Bali a couple of
years ago, our host said we had to dine at Bumbu Bali, which
served authentic Balinese food. We did more than that. Bumbu Bali
provided an unforgettable cultural experience, and the beginning
of a friendship with Heinz van Holzen, its chef and proprietor.

Holzen was born in Stans, Switzerland, in 1958. His wife Puji
comes from Singaraja, Bali, and works with him at the restaurant
and cooking school. They have a son, Fabian, now 8 years old.

Holzen started as an apprentice chef in 1975 at the Hotel de
la Paix in Lucerne, Switzerland. "My basic training was in
classical French cooking," he said. He worked his way up and
eastwards when he joined the Hilton chain of hotels, which took
him to Adelaide, Melbourne and Singapore. He later joined Hyatt
in Singapore and became chef des cuisines in 1988.

He came to Bali as Grand Hyatt's opening Executive Chef in
September 1990, and has since made Bali his home. He left Ritz-
Carlton in August 1997 to open Bumbu Bali, Restaurant & Cooking
School, on Dec. 1, 1997

Bumbu Bali was Holzen's brainchild. Many attest that it is the
only Balinese restaurant where diners can enjoy the tantalizing
flavors of the island in an authentic Balinese setting.

"In Bali almost all restaurants serve a similar line of food.
A bit of Indonesian, a bit of Italian, a bit of French and then
of course Cap Cai. At Bumbu Bali, we serve only Balinese food,"
said Holzen.

According to Holzen, it is extremely difficult to find real
Balinese food in Bali unless one is invited to someone's home or
to a ceremony. Moreover, in Bali most street food is prepared by
Javanese vendors, not Balinese.

"Funnily enough, when I arrived here, the Balinese chefs asked
me how to prepare their local cuisine!" he remembered with a
laugh. "As we had 150 chefs on our team, we had lots of talent
available. I then organized a cooking competition among the chefs
and asked them to prepare dishes that they would cook at home.
The result was fantastic and we were overwhelmed by the variety
of dishes and flavors available."

Holzen then took photos of those dishes and scribbled down the
basic recipes. Thus began the exciting journey toward developing
authentic Balinese cuisine for Bumbu Bali.

Shortly afterward he met a publisher, who was interested in
producing a book on the food of Bali. Prior to this, no recipe
book on Balinese cuisine existed, he assured me. Thus The Food of
Bali, written and photographed by Holzen, was published by
Periplus and has since become the authority on Balinese food.

One other interesting feature of Bumbu Bali is the Cooking
Class, which is conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
running from dawn until early afternoon. It attracts many
interested travelers who want to learn the basics of Balinese
cuisine from the master.

"We follow the recipes from the book and use them in our
cooking classes," he says.

Bumbu Bali combines all the traditional elements of a Balinese
home and the warm and friendly hospitality of the Balinese. In
September 1999 it was voted Best Restaurant in Bali by the Bali
government and in March 2000, it went on to win Best Restaurant
in Indonesia in a survey conducted by Asia Travel Magazine. No
wonder it is so difficult to get a seat in the evenings without a
reservation!

In December 1999, Holzen was voted one of Bali's 21 Most
Influential Personalities by readers of Bali's largest English
newspaper, for his contribution in promoting Balinese food as
part of Bali's heritage.

Holzen is also an avid photographer and combines his hobby
with his passion for cooking. He did the photography of several
cookbooks including Food of Indonesia, Food of Japan and Food of
Vietnam.

Lately he has been dabbling in property and has developed and
designed luxury villas called Rumah Bali, which was opened in
December, 1999.

This busy man has one other passion for which he is well known
-- turtle conservation. On one of our visits to Bumbu Bali, we
watched enthusiastically as Holzen and other environmentalists
released baby turtles into the sea. You can see what he is doing
for the turtles at www.balifood.com/turtles.

So if you get a chance to visit Bumbu Bali, let Holzen whet
your appetite for good food and warm Balinese hospitality, and
enthrall you with his passion for cooking, cook books, property
and turtles.