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.