The Food & Beverage (F&B) industry is growing fast, pushing professionals to innovate and create high-quality food and drinks. To boost the skills of Executive Chefs and F&B Leaders in South Kalimantan, Archipelago, Southeast Asia’s largest hotel management group, hosted the Black Box Battle at Aston Tanjung City, Kalimantan.
Held on 19 February 2025, the competition brought together 16 participants, including 8 Food & Beverage Leaders and 8 Executive Chefs from across Kalimantan. They showcased their skills by using secret ingredients from a black box. Executive Chefs had 60 minutes to prepare their signature dishes, while F&B Leaders had 30 minutes to create unique drinks.
Executive Chefs had to create dishes using chicken, cassava, green aubergine, and tamarind, while F&B Leaders made drinks with jackfruit, yoghurt, and lychee.
“Archipelago is proud to have successfully hosted the Black Box Battle, a premier culinary challenge that pushes F&B professionals to innovate using mystery ingredients. Our goal is to inspire and challenge our Executive Chefs and F&B Leaders in Kalimantan, encouraging them to excel and deliver their best culinary creations,“ said Winston Hanes, Vice President of Operations at Archipelago.
The winners of the Food Competition category are as follows:
- Third place was secured by Muhammad Jeremy Andrean from Hotel Neo Palma Palangkaraya, earning the Favorite Trophy and a cash prize.
- First place was awarded to Ahmad Faisal Amin from Hotel Neo+ Balikpapan, who won the Charles Brookfield Trophy and a cash prize.
- Second place went to Zaky Wicaksono from Aston Samarinda Hotel and Convention Center, who received the John Flood Trophy and a cash prize.
The winners of the Beverage Competition category are as follows:
- First place was awarded to Rendi Komara from Hotel Neo+ Balikpapan, who won the Charles Brookfield Trophy and a cash prize.
- Second place went to Kasmir from Hotel Neo Palma Palangkaraya, who received the John Flood Trophy and a cash prize.
- Third place was secured by Ari Darmasetya from Harper Banjarmasin, earning the Favorite Trophy and a cash prize.
“It is an honor for us at Aston Tanjung City Hotel to host the first Archipelago Black Box Battle of 2025, especially in Kalimantan. As the host, we were delighted to welcome all participants and ensured that we prepared this event as best as possible, paying attention to every detail of the participants’ needs so they could compete effectively,” said I Made Rai Wirata – General Manager of the host venue for this first event of 2025.
The event aimed to inspire creativity in Executive Chefs and F&B Leaders by challenging them to create dishes and drinks with unknown ingredients. With limited time and no prior knowledge of the ingredients, they had to meet Archipelago’s high-quality standards.
“We are excited to host our second Black Box Battle in Kalimantan. We have held this competition in Java for quite some time, and now we are back in Kalimantan to showcase the talented Executive Chefs from Archipelago. We hope this event will also inspire them to explore more ideas in their cooking and beverage-making skills,” said Denny Frederick, Corporate Executive Chef at Archipelago.
Archipelago congratulates the winners of the Black Box Battle Kalimantan 2025. For more information, visit www.archipelagohotels.com and follow @archipelagointernational on Instagram.
