As Ubud Food Festival (UFF) 2017 nears, it’s exciting to see more of the line-up being announced. Food enthusiasts can expect to rub elbows with more of the culinary who’s who from all over the world. To name a few, Frenchman Joannès Rivière from Cuisine Wat Damnak in Cambodia, Sicilian Lino Sauro from Gattorpardo in Singapore and Manjunath Mural from The Song of India in Singapore – the first Indian chef to receive a Michelin star for an Indian restaurant in Southeast Asia. From Indonesia itself there are the talented Fernando Sindu from Benedict and Kim Pangestu from Nomz – both in Jakarta.
What’s even more exciting is seeing that UFF chefs took top spots at the 2017 S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards recently. At number nine on the list is Chef Julian Royer from Singapore’s Odette restaurant, who also brought his classical French training to UFF 2016. Australian Dave Pynt from Burnt Ends in Singapore – who appeared at UFF 2015 – came close at number 10.
Two of the most anticipated guests of UFF this year are husband and wife Chefs Bo Songvisava and Dylan Jones from Bangkok’s Bo.lan fame, which climbed up to number 19 on the list. Locavore, the much-loved fine-dining Ubud restaurant and also UFF regular, made the most impressive climb on the list from number 49 to number 22. This just goes to show that in only three years, the festival – that will run from 12th till 14th May – has grown into Indonesia’s leading culinary event, one not to be missed.
