Punchy sauce attracts stars to 'Steak 41'

Punchy sauce attracts stars to 'Steak 41'

By Imran Rusli

JAKARTA (JP): Located on the side of a busy road and separated from the bustling traffic by only a foul culvert and a stand of bamboo, Steak 41 is a very unusual dining place.

Its exterior exudes a certain strength. The space within, in the form of a pendopo (open veranda) where guests are seated, is shielded from the dust by transparent plastic curtains.

The pendopo nearest to the road has no such curtains. It is next to an open space with a barbecue grill. This part of the eatery is only three meters from the busy Jalan Tendean in Mampang, South Jakarta.

The pendopo at the back is surrounded by a wild growth of grass and flowers. Stagnant water sits in several places and candles burn day and night to keep the pesky flies away so guests can enjoy the view of two sets of rusting filmmaking equipment and the VW workshop.

Despite the view, Steak 41 has certain features other restaurants lack, which allows visitors to forget its shortcomings.

On Saturday nights customers stand in line to get in, both for the food and the exclusive atmosphere, said operations manager Muarief.

He added that on busy nights the inner yard is also used for parking, doubling the usual 10 car capacity. The eatery has a seating capacity of 120 persons who occupy the 30 tables surrounded by four chairs each.

The main attraction of Steak 41, insisted Muarief, is its interior design. The steak house is dominated by boxing equipment and film paraphernalia. A pair of boxing gloves hang over each table lampshade ad the pendopo are surrounded by ropes like a boxing ring. Punching bags are suspended from the ceiling, although they don't disturb the diners.

Each table has a movie clapboard to allow diners to summon the red clad waiters.

The upper walls of the main pendopo are covered by film posters. One of these presents Perwira Ksatria (Valiant Prince), a film directed by Edhie Soeryono RA, the owner of the steak house which employs 28 persons.

Visitors can choose a director's chair. "There are only a dozen of such chairs," said finance manager Mulyono Sardono. The chairs are often hired by production houses for commercials.

Mulyono Sardono told The Jakarta Post that the interior was designed by Edhie Soeryono, "because he was once a professional boxer and is now making films."

The owner, being a film man and cinematography teacher at the Jakarta Arts Institute, initially attracted many movie stars to his restaurant.

This inevitably led to fans flocking to see the stars. They asked for autographs, photographs and sat at the tables once graced by their idols.

Then, the attraction changed. Mulyono said, "Now it is our sauce that elicits much praise."

"There is an ambassador who sends his staff here to buy our sauce," said Muarief, a man who loves food and who once worked at the Borobudur Inter.Continental Jakarta. He would not say which ambassador loves his sauce.

Muarief's sauce is brownish and is packaged in a bottle without a label. Both Mulyono and Muarief refused to disclose its formula. "That is a culinary secret," indicated Muarief.

According to Muarief, the sauce is more tasty when applied after the meat is barbecued. It has an ordinary taste when splashed on the meat during roasting.

Steak 41 offers a choice of 13 dishes of imported New Zealand beef. The sauce goes best with barbecued U.S. sirloin, he said.

"Just give it a try, it is only Rp 18,500," Muarief pitched.

I did. I opted for the Rp 9,000 "Cut to Cut Steak". The meat is tender, the fries crunchy and the vegetables have a fresh, bitter inclination. The sauce, in this case the special Abyss formula, is a combination of spicy, sweet and sour flavors which maintain the steak's succulence.