Research, Cravings & Thoughts

Bali

It’s our 6th day in Bali. Learning the cultures, how people work, knowing suppliers and vendors.

All new business has to begin from a new “starting” point.

We do enjoy meeting new people. 

Bali is certainly different from Jakarta. We are certainly out of our comfort zone but it’s the challenge of tackling something new and just engage with people aligning new mindset is worth doing. It’s difficult but certainly a rewarding experience. The most important thing is having the right motivation and spirit to this situation. Bless and add value.

Bali has great ingredients that Jakarta does not have. The seafood quality here is just truly amazing. The freshness of it is just remarkable. You can still taste the sweetness of the shrimp. The color of the fish brought in is just wonderful.

Yet to explore more new things here.

Oh yeah, we are expanding to Bali with a wonderful local partner here.

Cheers,

Derrick

Catering Management?

Good morning,

It’s been a while since the last time I write in this blog. Here in Culture Royale, we are busy and learning how to set a 5 (year) business plan and setting up a better way of structuring our organization and reporting system, realigning vision with action, etc.

I don’t know if a caterer in Indonesia is supposed to worry about things like this. Maybe it’s silly. Nevertheless, I do feel a company regardless what you do business in, catering, photography, manufacturing, we are still an organization. It never hurts to have a better plan, a better system, a better way of doing business.

I have certain frustration and endless curiosity in how this business should be and could be. I do believe if a business is ran more professionally, the end benefit should not only increase your sales only but also create a sense of belonging. 

Caterers. let’s search for Best Practices in business. We owe it to ourselves and to our team members to grow. 

I dream of a catering community that is considered more proper and excellent then a 5* hotel. 

Cheers,

Derrick

Service

Catering business is a low barrier industry. Anyone can come in, even without proper license and setup. No pun intended.

However beside the joy of cooking, which is the essential ingredient you must have to enter this business, we must not forget that we are in the service business.

How you serve your clients really sets you apart from different caterers. Good service should be free and included and for the proprietor it really does not cost you much. Strive to serve our clients better.

We are not saying that we are perfect but that will always continue to be our goal and remains the front and center questions for the leaders of the company:

HOW CAN I SERVE MY CLIENTS BETTER?

And customer service is not a department. Everyone in the company needs to be engaged in this value. Leaders in the company needs to constantly rally people to serving. 

We may failed sometimes but that just prove how much we need to improve ourselves. Don’t be content with praises. Lend our ears also to those who give us critics.

Let’s grow together and serve better.

“High touch is always better than high tech”

Cheers,

Derrick

Coconut Jello Treatment

To my fellow caterers,

Here are some helpful tips that are quite crucial on making and serving coconut jello.

1. Make sure that the working environment is cool and sterile. This is highly important due to the nature of the product.

2. While this product is in holding, make sure they are stored in a chiller that is 3 degrees C. It is imperative that the temperature is at this level otherwise spoil stage will accelerate. 

3. Be sure to maintain good temperature of the product while transport. This will keep the integrity of the product until consumed by your client.

While having Coconut Jello as a product line is fun and can bring more profits, do remember that this product requires “handle with care”.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Derrick

On Innovation

Today the world lost a very prominent figure, Steve Jobs. 

A person that is true to himself, know what he wants to do in his life and so in love doing it. I have been reading his commencement address that he made back on June 12, 2005.

If you haven’t read the speech, google it and you’ll find it. It will be worth your trouble. If you have a good internet connection, TedX has the recording of his commencement speech. 

I would like to highlight the second point of his speech. 

Quote: “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

Success and familiarity often leads us doing things that are in essence “safe.” We somehow lose the tenacity to be daring again, to think boldly, to push the boundaries, to dream …. because to do all that it will lead us, and I’m borrowing Steve Jobs words, less sure about everything.

Do we set out to work and build something so that we can be sure about all things? Didn’t we say that we wanna make a difference?

Innovation will only be possible, first, for people who love what they do in life and for people who never stop dreaming and dare to act upon their dream.

So as a tribute to Steve Jobs, let us in the Food Industry to keep on dreaming, to stay hungry and stay foolish. 

Keep on creating those new dishes, new way of presenting, innovative service technique. 

The world needs it and, honestly, so does the rest of us who is in this line of business.

Cheers,

Derrick

Newbie at Max Brenner (Melbourne)

I am definitely not a dessert person, much more chocolate. I know some of my friends would be thinking I’m crazy for not liking Max Brenner. So when I stumble to this shop, it was purely because my feet was quite sore from intense walking in the City. LOL

So I ordered some Capuccino and a Chocolate Molten Cake.

I gotta tell you … I FALL IN LOVE with Max Brenner Cappucino. I don’t want any other kind of cappucino. Instead of powdered chocolate, they drizzle on top melted chocolate.

Oh the taste …. : ) ~

I’m just ok with the Chocolate Molten Cake. It’s well executed. Its the melted chocolate that really kick it up a notch.

But I noticed that the chocolate quality it self is different here in Australia. My sister, who happens to travel with me and have studied in Australia, said that chocolate here was definitely better from US. I have to concur.

Cheers,

Derrick

Review on Movida Aqui (Melbourne)

I was referred by a client of Culture Royale who used to study in Melbourne to this particular restaurant. She suggested me to go to the main site which is located at 1 Hosier Lane, off Flinders Lane. Thank you for this recommendation Rina.

The main restaurant was fully booked for 2 weeks. With the schedule that we had available, Movida Aqui was the most accomodating. 

The place was indeed quite packed. 

Never been to the restaurant before, I was at the mercy of the Waiter serving our table for the night. We asked for the signature dish of the restaurant and for wine accompaniment. 

He suggested several dish and, a big fan of Paella myself, I added Paella to the order.

Known for their tapas dish, of course I want to try some of their famous tapas. The first 1 suggested by the waiter is a Spanish Ham served with some deep fried cheese and melons. I LOVE THIS DISH … I couldn’t remember the name of the dish but it was delicious. 

The second tapas dish is a “croquette” spanish style. It was ok. The frying technique was well done. Not oily at all. The texture is crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. The thing that stand out a bit is the sauce on top. For me, this is just an “ok” dish.

I just love sausage … Always have, always will. Here we have Butifarra, a house made Catalan Pork and Pepper Sausage with Chickpeas. Great seasoning, well balanced and juicy sausage. Yummm 

This is, according to the waiter the best dish of the house, Carillera de buey. It’s beef cheek cooked in Pedro Ximenez wine, a Spanish wine label, served in a bed of cauliflower puree. Before you get turned off by “beef cheek”, let me tell you the meat is so tender and it absorbs all the flavor of the wine so well. It’s so tender you don’t need a knife to eat this. Good dish.

This dish is called, Pulpo A La Gallega. It’s an octopus tentacles. Quite a large size too. It’s grilled and seasoned with olive oil and some dry seasoning. Just an “ok” for me. 

Now this is something else. I’ve been craving for a good Paella for quite a long time. And I couldn’t find a good paella anywhere in Indonesia. This is GOOD! …  rice cooked to perfection, great seasoning, seafood fresh. Divine.

For dessert, the waiter suggested their Flan. Not being a big fan of flan, I opted for their churros. Let me tell you, the best churros by far. Served with melted high quality chocolate, it was one good tasting fried dough.  

Overall, the experience was wonderful and pleasant. A lot of people told me to dine at the main restaurant. Note to self: make reservations EARLY!

For their information, go to their website:

www.movida.com.au

Cheers,

Derrick

True South Microbrewery @ Black Rock (Melbourne)

A big part of why I’m in Melbourne is to explore the landscape of microbrewery. Learning about beer making, tasting beer .. well it’s a hard days work but someone have to do it : )

At the last beer making session, the class went to this 1 brewery in Black Rock, Melbourne. It’s a bit of a drive from downtown Melbourne, about 30 minutes without traffic. Yes, there’s traffic in Melbourne people : )

The class was given a tour of their facility and equipments. Really state of the art, but then again I’m new at this thing. Met 1 of the residence brewer, Brian. He was the 1 giving us the tour. Great guy with “mean” brewing technique. 
Sorry, no pictures of their facility. No photo taking is allowed. 
For the record, this brewery is quite young. 2 years old in operation but has a couple of awards on their belt for their beer on the Australian. They won bronze awards at the 2011 Australian International Beer Awards for their Summer Ale, Dark Ale, American Pale Ale, & Pilsner. 
Here’s the list of beer that they serve:1. Summer ale (Kolsch)2. American Pale Ale,3. New World Pilsner4. Dark Ale (American Brown)5. Red Truck Lager
And they also do a Cider, from apple. 
A lesson learned when doing beer tasting, always start from the “easiest” to drink and work your way up. Easiest meaning light and not too complex in taste. A Stout will probably the last beer in a tasting.
All their beer is very easy to drink and not at all bitter like the common Australian beer. Bitterness in beer is measured in IBU. What I mean by easy to drink is the type of beer you can drink 3-5 glasses : )
All beers are well balanced in terms of flavor. They use hops on several of their beers but none is “overpowering.” I like it so much that I’m imagining my glass of water in front of me is a cold Summer Ale. LOL
Summer Ale and New World Pilsner is definitely my favorite. 
After the tasting we continue to lunch. To my surprise it was very good. 
I tried a couple of dish. The first 1 is The Pork. A simple dish cooked with care. 2 of the slice is a bit overcooked that the meat part of the pork becomes just a tad dry. But other than that its a great dish. The sauce is very light with just a sprinkle of lemon to counter balance it. The skin is so crunchy that 2 tables over can still hear me eating it.


The second dish is The Scallop. So fresh and beautifully decorated. And ohhh .. the mashed potatoes is so delicious. It’s very flavorful, not your ordinary mash. 



I went back to the kitchen and have a chat with the Chef. His name is Mauro. He is from Argentina. I got a bite of the Short Rib with Chimichuri sauce that he is preparing for 1 table. Juicy with the richness of Chimichuri sauce … what can go wrong. : )
 
If you are in Black Rock, pay them a visit. It will be worth your trouble. 
Here is their contacts: 
True South

Open 6 days (Closed Mondays)
12pm until late: Lunch & Dinner

Bookings: bookings@truesouth.com.au 

298 Beach Road Black Rock VIC 3193 
PO Box 516 Black Rock VIC 3193

General: enquiries@truesouth.com.au

Switchboard: 1300 878 360

Functions:      0487 893 480

Cheers,

Derrick

Claypot Seafood Review (Melbourne)

 

After sitting in front of the laptop for a while researching for the best seafood in Melbourne, I stumbled into a couple of reviews for this restaurant.  When traveling, normally, I leaned not to select a restaurant which don’t have a website and don’t have thorough reviews of their menu. This restaurant only have a couple of pictures from a several previous satisfied patrons but somehow curiosity got the best of me and I give it a go.

Fueled with hunger and curiosity, I drove towards this restaurant, Claypots Seafood, at St. Kilda. The lady guide me thoroughly to their menu and after discussing what we want to eat, the kitchen fired all the stove. Steam blowing and hot oil boiling, our food was cooked with great care. 


Gotta tell you, its 1 of the best seafood restaurant I’ve eaten. 

The Garlic King Prawn was over the top. It was sooo delicious and full of flavor. It’s 1 of their best selling dish. 

The Oyster is so fresh … You can still taste the Sea Water. Definitely not frozen. 

The Grilled Calamary was well seasoned and the roasted paprika and chili gives it a rustic flavor. Well executed. 

The Grilled Flat Fish was so tender and firm. Grilled to perfection. Though the bones on the fish bothered me a bit but the meat of the fish is so juicy. And what surprises me is the Bok Choy. Delicious!

 

I asked the Lady what is this type of cooking because they were using lots of ingredients and really “criss-crossing” in the way they cook. She simply says … World Food. : ) I really recommend this restaurant. 

I went there for rather early lunch being paranoid with long queues. We literally had the place for ourselves. I did try to came back again on our last night in Melbourne and rather late for dinner. The place was packed. So managed your visit.

This restaurant top my list while in Melbourne. The lady gave me some other menu on the list to try next. I’m salivating just thinking about it now. LOL  

Here is the info on the Restaurant:

Claypots Seafood 
213 Barkly Street St. Kilda
Phone: 03 - 9534-1282

Cheers,

Derrick