Archipelago, the largest private hotel management company in Southeast Asia, successfully held its 10th Archipelago Black Box Battle at Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. This competition featured 10 F&B Leaders and 11 Executive Chefs from Archipelago hotel units in the Bali and Lombok areas. Participants were tasked with creating food and beverages from 3 secret ingredients: squid, shrimp, and moringa leaves for the chef category. For the F&B Leaders category, the 3 secret ingredients used were soursop, longan, and cucumber, all presented in a black box.

These ingredients had to be crafted into a delicious dish within 90 minutes, while F&B Leaders were given only 30 minutes to create a unique, refreshing drink.

“We regularly organize the Black Box Battle as an ideal platform to hone the creativity and skills of our Executive Chefs and F&B Leaders in Bali and Lombok, as well as to reward their success in food and beverage management. Additionally, this event aims to improve the quality of food and beverages across our hotels,” said Winston Hanes, Vice President of Operations at Archipelago.

As the host, I Gede Ady Suardi, General Manager of Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center, said, “It is a great honor for us at Aston Denpasar to host this prestigious competition. We are proud to play a role in creating valuable moments where Chefs and F&B Leaders from various Archipelago hotels in Bali and Lombok can showcase their best talents. We hope this competition continues to serve as a space for learning and innovation in the culinary world.”

Winners of the Archipelago Black Box Battle received a prestigious trophy, certificate, cash prize, and gifts from event supporters.
The winners in the Food Battle category were:
- First Place: Quest San Hotel Denpasar - Desak Ketut Darmayanti
- Second Place: favehotel Sunset Seminyak - I Wayan Tika
- Favorite Winner: Hotel Neo Denpasar - Ni Made Suarmini

In the Beverage Battle category, the winners were:
- First Place: Aston Canggu Beach Resort - I Gusti Agung Gede Udiana
- Second Place: favehotel Kuta Kartika Plaza - I Made Darsana
- Favorite Winner: Hotel Neo Denpasar - I Wayan Eka Sudarta

“The black box ingredients really pushed us to think creatively and quickly. The event was quite intense as participants had to come up with ideas in a short time to process the secret ingredients. I hope the chefs will continue to participate in this competition in the future, allowing them to be more creative in crafting authentic dishes at each hotel. This is an incredible challenge for us as chefs,” said Chef Desak Ketut Darmayanti from Quest San Hotel Denpasar, first-place winner in the Food Battle category.

In addition, I Gusti Agung Gede Udiana from Aston Canggu Beach Resort, first-place winner in the Beverage Battle category, expressed gratitude and hope for the Archipelago Black Box Battle. “I drew inspiration from my experience working in hotels as an F&B Leader, which helped me generate ideas for crafting drinks from secret ingredients like soursop, longan, and cucumber, creating a unique flavor that sets the drink apart from usual offerings. This competition is a rare opportunity to showcase creativity in mixology and F&B strategy. I am grateful to my team for their full support, and to Archipelago for organizing this event. This win motivates me to continue innovating in the F&B industry.”