REPUBLIKA CO.ID., BANDUNG - A Sundanese restaurant, Bumbu Desa, will open a new branch in Seattle, US. The owner wishes to introduce Sundanese cuisine to people in Uncle Sam’s country.
"I hope the new branch can open in Seattle in the second semester of 2012," the owner of Bumbu Desa, Arief Wirawangsadita, said on Sunday.
This new branch plans to serve the same menu as in Indonesian branches, but with different interior and ambience. Currently Bumbu Desa has 38 branches in Indonesia and eight branches abroad, such as in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia.
"Local people show a good interest, but we often lose to other cuisines from ASEAN because they seriously do their business abroad. We are worry that Indonesia has only few traditional restaurants abroad," Wirawangsadita said.
The owner intentionally opens a branch in Seattle because the city has quite big population of Indonesians, which are about 17,000. They work in wide range of sectors, including the former workers of Dirgantara Indonesia who work in Boeing manufacture.