Jakarta's Memories restaurant now a place to remember
Jakarta's Memories restaurant now a place to remember
By Bruce Emond
JAKARTA (JP): Memories restaurant lived up to its name in the
saddest way last night.
Manager Klaas Kemp ushered out the last of the Valentine's Day
diners, said goodbye to some of his 54 staff and locked the door
of the restaurant for the final time after 12 years in business.
Opened in October 1985 on the first floor of the Indosemen
building on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, the restaurant built up a loyal
clientele of businesspeople, bankers, ministers and those merely
intent on a culinary trip down memory lane.
But the good days came to a grinding halt with the
catastrophic economic collapse that began in the middle of last
year.
"During last year's Idul Fitri holiday, business was down but
that was understandable," Kemp said. "But it had picked up by
June, and my Indonesian clientele was then about 55 percent."
Loyal clientele included prominent statesmen Radius Prawiro,
Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Sudharmono and their families, besides
foreign envoys.
Kemp went on vacation, and returned to find the local currency
on an inexorable slide into a netherworld of worthlessness.
Memories' US$10,000 monthly rent soon became unaffordable, and
the owners informed Kemp two weeks ago that the restaurant would
have to close.
It was an especially sad end for Kemp, 71, who arrived here 27
years ago to train workers for a cruise ship line. He married an
Indonesian, fathered two sons and stayed on, working during the
1970s as a manager for the Oasis restaurant (he is credited with
reintroducing Rijsttafel dining at the eatery on Jl. Raden Saleh,
Cikini in Central Jakarta).
Oasis' owners, the family which also owns the Aqua mineral
water company, suggested he explore new restaurant possibilities
in the 1980s.
"At first, we talked about a Polynesian theme, but I did not
think this was the place for that," Kemp said. "So we opened the
restaurant as a grill."
It was his baby, and he was given free rein on the project.
"I wanted it to be like another world, like people were
stepping back in time."
Kemp fattened the menu with Dutch favorites; it eventually
covered four pages, not including separate fliers for
profiteroles, waffles and other desserts.
He succeeded in turning it into a homage to the cuisine of his
homeland and furnished it with antiques, such as original cutlery
from the former Dutch East Indies shipping line KPN.
A local band, trained by Kemp in Dutch, German and English
songs, was hired to serenade patrons with tunes from yesteryear.
Naturally, Kemp retains his own bank of fond memories from
over the years. A young man who brought his thrilled grandfather,
a former KPN captain, to the restaurant. The elderly couple who
came every Valentine's Day and requested, year after year, the
same table.
Longtime Jakarta resident and Memories patron, E.J.B. Huisman,
said he felt for Kemp.
"I saw it all start from the beginning, when this place was
just bare walls. It is very sad. This is his life. But what can
we do?"
Although costs of imported foods soared last year, Kemp
refused to skimp on quality.
Dutch herring, a menu mainstay, was marked with a "not
available" sticker after its price became exorbitantly high.
"People come to Memories for memories. I don't want to finish
a good memory by serving bad quality. When I go down, I go
proudly," Kemp said.
Some of the restaurant's workers will be reassigned to other
firms in the business group, but Kemp said he spent "sleepless
nights thinking about this. I feel lousy".
There is a slight possibility the restaurant may reopen at
another location.
"I still see a spark of light. But I would definitely not
choose the location of a high-rise," Kemp said, describing the
Indosemen building management as not "lenient" in handling the
payment issue.
"I would prefer a house, but those are hard to find."
Huisman said he would not be among those marking Memories'
final night of business.
"It would be too much. I just want to have good memories of
what this place meant to me over the years."