The all wooden décor and the commanding presence of open kitchen for grilling, pizza making, dim sum steaming, and a station for woks suggest that C’s intertwines various dining concepts. From another angle, eight fish tanks with coolers for oysters and crustaceans join in the ensemble to show that the restaurant is equally serious with seafood. The creative take on every corner proves C’s has successfully married fine-dining, a steakhouse, and even some may say – an elegant seafood shack; all encased beautifully behind a façade of a five-star hotel signature restaurant.
Take a conventional and straightforward business lunch; steak would be a good option. Or it may present an array of grilled items and fresh seafood for a casual Sunday brunch and at times, an experimental menu for more appreciative crowds (for example; a gourmet approach of s’mores and marshmallow) It also makes room for fine-dining moments.
Chefs Rolf Knecht as the Executive Chef of the hotel and Matt Demery as the frontman in C’s demonstrate how best of ingredients, finesse in cooking techniques and technology meet. Chef Matt showed us the short ribs – cooked overnight in an MKN FlexiCombo MagicPilot. Previously, he employed an overnight marination by using C’s signature housemade sauce and Coca Cola, until he then simply set manually the oven setting for slow braising. “With the short ribs, I specifically wanted to achieve an evenly cooked meat all the way through. I set the temperature at 70C for 24 hours straight for the braising”, says the chef.
In contrast with a regular conventional oven, the results are more desirable and accurate for any slow cooking process. “For the short ribs, I hope to accomplish a good character of a slowly braised meat but at a medium temperature. There’s a combination of 20% of steam and 80% of dry heat during the process”, explains the chef. C’s also employs the use of sous-vide cooking for certain cuts of beef. “We can always use the sous-vide for our products but when it comes to a large number of portions, our MKN assists so much in terms of capacity and the features that it possesses”, says Chef Matt.
To sum it all up, this harmonious synergy between techniques and technology is what defines C’s. From a simple shucking of the very fresh Fine de Claire oysters, Chinese style fried rice and spring rolls, and up to a multiple cooking stages for Wagyu cheek and other prime cuts of beef; it is a complexity that is well-managed. “I would say that our style here at C’s is a combination of techniques that people have been using for the past 100 years, something from what were taught in culinary schools, my expertise as a chef, and of course – technology”, concludes Chef Matt.
C’s STEAK & SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
Halal-friendly (some menu may contain alcohol)
Some menu are suitable for vegetarians
Address:
Grand Hyatt, Jalan M.H. Thamrin, Jakarta – Indonesia
T: +62.21.2970.4981 ext. 438
Opening hours:
Daily, 12pm – 3pm (lunch), 6pm – 10.30pm (dinner)
As featured in mise en place Vol. 12 (2015)
RIAN FARISA 