An Indische Eatery in an Antique Setting

May 21, 2010
The Jakarta Globe / Novia Stephani


Huize Trivelli’s antique-filled interior belies its past as part of a prisoner of war complex during World War II.  (JG Photo/Clara Prima)

An Indische Eatery in an Antique Setting
Time seems to have stopped at Huize Trivelli, a Dutch-Indonesian restaurant that takes you back decades into the past, to a time when life was less frantic and beauty was a celebration of color and curves that did not know the concept of minimalism.

It is easy to miss the restaurant, which doubles as a patisserie, tucked away between hulking new buildings along Jalan Tanah Abang 2 in Central Jakarta.

Though the street used to be an upscale residential area for professionals like lawyers and doctors, much of it has since been transformed into multilevel shopping complexes, hotels and car dealerships.

“We don’t have neighbors here,” owner Wahyuni Baliningtyas Soe’oed said.

But step into the restaurant and you will soon forget that Jakarta has turned into a concrete labyrinth. In the small, roofed garden in front, lush creepers and border plants set an idyllic scene for the chunky set of old chairs and tables, with the constant trickle of water from the fountain set on the eaves of the house chiming in the background.

The interior might well remind you of a classic English parlor, with porcelain plates lining the walls, shaded lamps and wooden glass-fronted cabinets where more china rests on lacy doilies.

Except there are no chintz curtains, no floral wallpaper. Instead there are Chinese bowls and painted, tiered food carriers. The arches are framed in engraved teak ornaments from Java. The Dutch song playing in the background is peppered with Indonesian words.

“We’re an Indische restaurant,” said restaurant manager Bambang Pangayoman, referring to the term for the blending of Dutch and Indonesian cultures. “It’s a facet of modern Dutch culture. People have Indische magazines and Indische music sections in record stores. It began with Dutch children born in Indonesia who remembered what it was like growing up here; the food, the places, and then it just grew from there.”

Alongside traditional European offerings like chateau brioche, the restaurant’s patisserie sells cookies baked on-site, from Wahyuni’s mother’s own recipe. The menu also features such traditional and modified Betawi fare as bier pletok a la creme , a tangy brew made with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and clove, colored red with the bark of the secang wood, topped with ice cream.

“To some people bier pletok tastes too much like jamu . So we add ice cream to make it more appealing to the younger people. Everybody loves ice cream,” Bambang said.

Huize Trivelli also serves the more well-known laksa and soto Betawi made with recipes handed down from Wahyuni’s mother, mother-in-law and aunts.

Like the interior, the house itself has a mixed history of both Dutch and Indonesian owners. It once was part of the prisoner of war complex called Cideng Camp, where some 10,000 Dutch women and children were interned during the Japanese occupation of World War II.

Built in 1939, the house was purchased in 1953 by the parents of Jalaluddin Soe’oed, Wahyuni’s husband. It was converted into a restaurant in November 2006. Some of the marble-topped tables, heavy wooden chairs and cabinets in the restaurant have been in the family for decades.

“My husband and his parents love antiques, and these are their collection,” Wahyuni said.

“We display objects that have personal value to us here. The gramophone, my father’s old bicycle, our old transistor radio.”

Bambang, who is Wahyuni’s older brother, said: “We want to recreate the atmosphere that was here when our grandparents were still living in the house.”

When the restaurant first opened, the patrons were mostly senior citizens and young executives from the nearby office buildings.

“That’s why we had to install ramps, so the grandmothers and grandfathers in wheelchairs can get in,” Bambang said.

Recently, the restaurant has become popular with foreigners, former residents of Laan Trivelli, as Jalan Tanah Abang 2 used to be called, and their descendants.

“A Dutch guest once told me that he first learned to swim in the [nearby] Cideng River. Of course, at the time the river was clean enough to swim in,” Bambang said. “There was also a young woman who said that her grandmother used to live in the area. We showed her where the house used to be. It isn’t there anymore, but at least she found out where it was.”

Aside from serving up delicious cuisine, Huize Trivelli has another mission, which is to educate guests, especially younger ones, about the city’s history.

That is why all the place mats depict scenes from an older Jakarta, with historical buildings that for the most part have been razed in the name of development, plus a paragraph or two describing their history. The waitresses and female cooks all dress in traditional white kebaya encim , white embroidered cotton blouses, with colorful Pekalongan batik sarongs.

“Bapak [Jalaluddin Soe’oed] is concerned about culture, especially [native Jakarta] Betawi,” Bambang said. “And we’re also concerned about art and history. We want people to leave the restaurant not only with their belly full, but with something for the mind to feast on.”