As a true Manadoan, there can be only one dish that resides deep in the heart of Chef Emmanuel Julio. Clue for you – it is a soup and came from European influence. Surely you can already guess what it is.

Yes, you got that right. It’s either erwten soup or this one. If you choose the latter, then it might came with different writings. However, any answer is deemed correct.

The bruine bonen soep, bruine boon soup or simply brenebon soup, is an interesting heritage of crossover cuisines between Manadoan and influences that came from colonial Dutch. It comprises of the string beans, beef or pork, and some herbs. It is light but also fulfilling. “I always eat it with rice, naturally!” admits Chef Julio.

Chef Emmanuel Julio himself is the CDC of Sriwijaya Restaurant from The Dharmawangsa Jakarta, who would choose no other dish apart from this one. For him, it has that nostalgic values and a degree of simplicity that you would crave from time to time.

“Usually for Christmas, I would ask my mother to cook this for the whole family. Why do I like it so much? I guess it’s because this is one of my earliest food and I always remember the taste that makes me love it until now”, says the chef poetically.

During Christmas for Manadoan families, people are usually serving Western-influenced dishes and bruine bonen soep is among the must-have for the festivity. “The memory of feasting together with the whole family on the dining table back then gave more reason for me to love the soup more”, he adds.

Speaking about the chef’s career in the kitchen, Chef Julio spent his tenure in several places from Jakarta to Dubai before anchoring here at The Dharmawangsa. Once he was working under the tutelage of the illustrious Chef Vindex Tengker here and years before at Four Seasons Jakarta.

Now brought under the wings of the experienced Executive Chef Felix Budisetiawan, he’s responsible for preserving the hotel’s famous approach with progressive Indonesian cuisine and Sriwijaya’s latest creative initiative on luxurious omakase dining. Thanks to his talents and experience, Chef Julio is also being groomed as the hotel’s next Executive Chef.

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Featured in THE FOODIE MAGAZINE Jul 2015 edition

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