Hotels observe anniversary with Betawi food festivals

Hotels observe anniversary with Betawi food festivals

JAKARTA (JP): City dwellers appeared to lack the inclination
to join in Tuesday's festivities to celebrate the city's 472
anniversary. Symbols of Betawi (native Jakarta) culture were
mostly seen on major street corners and other public places.

Apparently, residents were still preoccupied with political
and security concerns in the lead-up to the presidential
election.

Star-rated hotels, still hit by low occupancy rates due to
security concerns, have jumped at the chance to attract customers
by holding Betawi food festivals, a marketing gimmick that proved
reasonably successful in the past.

Signs of festivity were seen in star-rated hotels, including
Hotel Mercure Rekso-Hayam Wuruk, Hotel Atrium, Santika Hotel and
Sheraton Bandara Hotel, which has turned the Betawi food fiesta
into an annual event.

Hotel Mercure Rekso-Hayam Wuruk in the Chinatown area of
Glodok has turned its Cafe La-Tiga on the third floor into a
miniature Betawi kampong with a couple of ondel-ondel (large
puppets used in parades) at the entrance. Other Betawi cultural
symbols, such as colorful paper coconut flowers and horse-dawn
cart replicas, also decorate the cafe.

A wide variety of Betawi traditional cuisine is on offer until
June 25. Gado-gado) (steamed beans and vegetables combined with
spicy peanut sauce) and kerak telor (sticky rice, shredded fried
coconut, shredded meat and finely sliced omelet), mie tek-tek
noodle, nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut sauce) and sop buntut
(goat tail soup) are a few of the typical delicacies available.

The cuisine is served by waitresses wearing traditional Betawi
attire. Betawi ethnic music plays in the background.

"The presentation of food within the older Betawi setting has
always been highly attractive to foreign visitors," said hotel
public relations manager Myrna A. Basalamah.

Aston Atrium Hotel at Kompleks Segitiga Atrium Senen, Central
Jakarta, has also organized a similar festival from June 21
through June 26 in its coffee shop on the ground floor.

The week-long festival offers Betawi traditional cuisine for
lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner from 6 p.m.
through 10 p.m.

The coffee shop opened its doors on Monday with Betawi ethnic
dances in the presence of Central Jakarta mayoralty officials.

The premises are decorated with Betawi cultural symbols and
the air is filled with Betawi music. The menu offers a wide range
of choices, from kerak telor, asinan Jakarta (salted fruits),
fish balls, Gado-gado Monas to a variety of cakes and vegetables.

This is the third time the hotel has hosted a Betawi food
festival.

Other hotels, such as Santika Hotel and Sheraton Bandara Hotel
threw Betawi food bazaars for only the anniversary day itself.

Hotel Santika in Slipi, Central Jakarta, celebrated the
Jakarta anniversary with a modest Batavian Dinner Buffet on
Tuesday night.

It served a variety of Betawi dishes and drinks at Rp 45,000
++ at Cafe Teluk Jakarta, which was decorated with ondel-ondel
and pictures of the bygone Betawi days.

"We held the festivity for a day because our guests stay for
between one and two days, and it's just not practical to hold it
longer," said Sheraton Bandara Hotel public relations officer
Esther Pormes.

But not all star-rated hotels cash in on the anniversary to
attract customers.

Gran Melia Jakarta, for instance, mobilized about 40 of its
employees to clean streets around the hotel to show it cared
about cleanliness in the neighborhood, said hotel spokesperson
Hanum Yahya.(pan)