Launch of Little Sister Indonesian Food Bar, July 23

The Date and Time: Wednesday July 23, 5PM to 9PM

The Event: Tastemaker's Event at Little Sister Indonesian Food Bar (2031 Yonge Street)

The Venue: Little Sister Indonesian Food Bar, Yonge Street

The Target Audience: opinionmakers and food/wine media

The Quote/Background: We were served two wines, S Balbo Crios Torrontes Mendoza on reception, followed by Tierra Divina Reds of Lodi California. Other white wines on the well-thought out list included Tawse Spark, Henry of Pelham Cuvee Catherine, Cave Spring Riesling, and Tawse Gewurztraminer. The bar list had eight cocktails, two of which were showcased tonight: Ubud Hangout (Rangpur gin, jalapeno black pepper syrup, fresh cilantro, cucumber and orange), and Little Brother (extra old rum, lime, housemade chai, angostura bitters, mint and ginger beer). Michael van den Winkel and Jennifer Gittins, co-owners (and they also own Quince across the street), described the food – The cuisines of Eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cuisine, with elements of Chinese cuisine. Spices such as pala (nutmeg/mace), cengkeh (clove), daun pandan (Pandan leaves), kluwek (Pangium edule) and laos (galangal) are native to Indonesia. The Indonesian cuisine influenced colonial Dutch and Indo people that brought Indonesian dishes back to the Netherlands due to repatriation following the independence of Indonesia. In "The Art of Dutch Cooking" (1962) is written "There exist countless Indonesian dishes, some of which take hours to prepare; but a few easy ones have become so popular that they can be regarded as "national dishes". The author

provided recipes for nasi goreng (fried rice), pisang goreng (baked bananas), lumpia

goreng (fried spring rolls), bami (fried noodles), satay (grilled skewered meat), satay sauce(peanut sauce), and sambal oelek (chilli paste). One of the most well know Dutch-Indonesian fusion dish is the Rijsttafel ("Rice table"), which is an elaborate meal consisting of up to several dozen small dishes (hence filling "an entire table"). While popular in the Netherlands, Rijsttafel is now rare in Indonesia itself, as it

demonstrated both colonial opulence and the diversity of Indonesian cuisine. In contemporary Indonesian cuisine, it has been adapted into a western style prasmanan buffet. Quince serves a Rijsttafel about three times a year, by reservation.

The Food: we had samples of just about the entire menu, and all of them thrilled. Perhaps one of the best was the Balinese spiced chicken (satay lilit), although the pork satay babi was no slouch, nor was the chicken peanut stay ayam. These were followed by a selection of beef croquettes with Sumatra spicing (our next fave) and jakarta beef wontons, shrimp sambal, shredded chicken taco, and beef pendang taco, another fave. From the mains section, we had samples of just about everything (the fish was not offered): roasted pork belly babi panggang, braised beef semur Java, shrimp coconut curry, ayam panggang chicken, and sambal daging tamarind braised pork. A feast! Just about a scaled-down Rijsttafel – thirteen dishes in all! Hard to beat this kind of ambience with delicious cocktails, wines, and a parade of highly charged, spicy (but not hot) foods. Not to mention some of the people we managed to talk to...We were sent home with prawn crackers and peanut sauce.

The Contact Person: shannon@thecanadianoffice.com; info@quincetoronto.com

The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 93.

Chimo! www.deantudor.com