The latest menu at Cork&Screw started somewhere far from its dining rooms in Jakarta. Earlier this year, Chef Fernando Sindu joined Unilever Food Solutions’ (UFS) Java Culinary Trip, travelling through Central Java and tasting his way through markets, warungs and roadside grills. This November, those experiences make their way back to Jakarta as a five-course menu inspired by the places he visited.
Created in collaboration with UFS Future Menus 2026, the limited-time menu brings together four mains and one dessert, with each dish connected to a specific place in Central Java. Available throughout November at Cork&Screw Pacific Place, Plaza Indonesia and Country Club at Senayan Avenue, the menu is part of the brand’s regular wine-and-dine offering for the month rather than a change to its overall concept.
The idea sits within Future Menus 2026, UFS’s culinary trends platform centred on “Rasa Nusantara untuk Masa Depan”, which looks at Indonesian flavours and how they can be brought into contemporary dining. For this collaboration, the starting point was Fernando’s journey through Central Java.
From the Road to the Table
The menu begins in Semarang with two dishes. Bakwan Tahu Gimbal takes inspiration from the city’s street-side tahu gimbal, combining fried prawn fritters and tofu fritters with bean sprouts and peanut sauce.
Also from Semarang is Asem-Asem Iga Sapi, built around slow-cooked beef ribs, chilli and tomato pickles served with a sweet-and-sour broth and corn rice. The dish takes its cue from Semarang’s tangy asem-asem broth.
The journey then moves to Pati with Nasi Bakar Gandul. Instead of serving nasi gandul in its familiar form, Cork&Screw wraps rice and beef filling in banana leaves and grills it, accompanied by pindang egg and a light coconut broth.
From Rembang comes Ayam Bakar Srepeh, featuring half a grilled chicken with glazed grilled plantains and condiments. The dish centres on srepeh sauce, Rembang’s rich, spiced coconut sauce.
Dessert takes a slightly different route with Cendol Pandan, an icy combination of coconut granita, cocopandan sago and coconut palm syrup inspired by the Javanese classic.
A November Menu at Cork&Screw
For Cork&Screw, the collaboration adds a distinctly Indonesian thread to a restaurant group better known for bringing together wine and food. Cork&Screw’s outlets in Pacific Place and Plaza Indonesia house more than 1,000 wine labels curated by The Union Group’s sommeliers, alongside Chef Fernando Sindu’s European and Asian dishes.
The Central Java menu brings another layer to that dining experience, with each dish retaining a clear connection to its place of origin while being presented within Cork&Screw’s contemporary setting.
It is also a continuation of the approach behind UFS Future Menus 2026, taking the chef out of the kitchen and into the places where the inspiration begins, before bringing those flavours back to the table.
For November, that table traces a route through Semarang, Pati and Rembang, one dish at a time.
The Specials: Jawa Tengah menu by Cork&Screw is available from 1 to 30 November 2026, all day, at Cork&Screw Pacific Place, Plaza Indonesia and Country Club at Senayan Avenue.
