At The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, one chef is proving that "Indonesian food" isn't one thing  it's hundreds of stories, and she's putting them all on the same plate.

A fish wrapped in banana leaf from North Sulawesi. A charcoal-grilled tempeh dish rooted in old Javanese preservation methods. A spice blend from one island that quietly echoes a spice blend from another. This is the new menu at Bejana, and it's less about "Indonesian food" as a single idea, and more about how many different Indonesias exist on one table.

Bejana by Petty Elliott is the new Indonesian menu at Bejana restaurant, inside The Ritz-Carlton, Bali. It's a collaboration between the resort's culinary team and Petty Elliott, a chef, author, and culinary advocate with close to three decades of experience promoting Indonesian food. The menu launched in 2026 and focuses on regional dishes, built on ingredients sourced daily from Balinese fishermen, farmers, 

and local producers. Signature dishes include Red Snapper with Bumbu Woku and charcoal-grilled Tempe Satay.

At a Glance

• Restaurant: Bejana, The Ritz-Carlton, Bali
• Chef collaborator: Petty Elliott  nearly 30 years championing Indonesian cuisine
• Seafood sourcing: Daily, from Kedonganan fishermen
• Signature dish origin: Red Snapper with Bumbu Woku, inspired by North Sulawesi

Credit : Instagram NowBalimag

What Is Bejana by Petty Elliott?

The name "bejana" refers to a traditional vessel once used to cook and serve food across the archipelago. The restaurant has always leaned on that idea  using Indonesian regional cooking as its throughline. This new menu, developed with Petty Elliott, pushes that further by letting individual regions keep their own identity instead of blending everything into one generic "Indonesian" style.

Seafood arrives daily from Kedonganan fishermen. Beef comes from local producers. Vegetables, herbs, and spices are sourced from farmers across Bali. Nothing on the plate is generic  every ingredient has a place it came from.

Credit : Instagram NowBalimag

What Makes the Menu Different?

The standout dish is Red Snapper with Bumbu Woku  freshly caught snapper wrapped in banana leaves, served alongside pakis (fiddlehead fern) grown locally. The woku spice blend traces back to North Sulawesi, but it shares several herbs with Bali's own bumbu genep, creating an unexpected link between two cooking traditions that rarely sit on the same menu.

Then there's the Tempe Satay  locally made tempeh prepared using the traditional bacem method (a slow, sweet-savoury braise) before being grilled over charcoal. It's smoky, slightly sweet, and proof that Indonesia's plant-based cooking traditions are just as layered as its meat and seafood dishes.

"Indonesian cuisine is incredibly layered," says Petty Elliott. "Every island, every community, and every family has its own way of telling a story through food. At Bejana, we wanted to honour those traditions with sincerity — allowing the ingredients, the techniques, and the regional identities to speak for themselves."

Who Is Petty Elliott?

Petty Elliott is a chef, cookbook author, and long-time advocate for Indonesian regional cuisine, known for documenting and reviving dishes that rarely make it onto hotel menus. Her involvement with Bejana builds on the restaurant's original mission: using food as a way to tell the story of the archipelago, one region at a time.

Where Can You Try It?

The menu is served at Bejana, located inside The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, overlooking Jimbaran Bay. It's designed for diners who want more than a "greatest hits" version of Indonesian food  this is regional cooking, presented with intention.