Flat Stanley:1 Alila Seminyak, Bali

Words: Catherine Martin • Photography: © Jon Tadashi Martin (unless otherwise stated)

The Dandy Collection crosses continents to develop a new dining concept for Alila, combining the spirit of California with the flavours of Bali.

Wander along Seminyak’s bustling Jalan Petitenget – a 2km stretch packed with bars, restaurants boutiques and spas – and you’ll find all manner of cuisines to tickle the taste buds. Indonesian fine-dining experiences sit alongside streetside sambal stalls, while Mexican taquerias, Japanese sushi bars and healthy Hawaiian cafés compete for the dining dollar of some 6 million tourists who flock to Bali every year.

Standing out from the crowd isn’t easy here, so when Alila was looking to add a new dining venue to its Seminyak property, bringing something different to the market was crucial. As one of five Alila branded hotels on the island, it was also imperative that the concept be suited to its specific location – a prime spot in the heart of Seminyak – rather than the rice paddies of Ubud or cliffs of Uluwatu for example, where two of its sister properties are located. And so, Alila turned to The Dandy Collection – an inventive bar and restaurant operator co-founded by Michael Goodman and Rohit Roopchand – having observed the success of Neon Pigeon and Fat Prince in Singapore.

After a market analysis to determine the cuisines and concepts missing from the Seminyak strip, Goodman and Roopchand hit upon the idea of a quality pizza joint, and tapped up a few of their best contacts to bring it to life. Harsh Roopchand, Rohit’s brother and the man behind Hong Kong hotspot Rummin’ Tings, was brought in for his expertise on the bar side, while Matt White, co-founder of Singapore’s Alt Pizza came in as head chef. Together, they created Flat Stanley, a hip day-to-night venue that crosses the confines of restaurant, bar and lounge.

The venture is a welcome boost to Alila Seminyak’s dining offer – which includes Seasalt, a sustainable seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean, and a beach bar serving international cuisine – and marks the latest in a series of enhancements. Now part of Hyatt, the 240-key property opened on the beachfront in 2015, and went on to add a three-bedroom penthouse in 2016, and the Studios at Alila Seminyak in 2017, the latter a 64-unit extension occupying a nearby plot.

Flat Stanley is also housed in an independent building, and while its introduction serves to cater to Alila’s growing number of overnight guests, its location at the junction of the resort’s main entrance is well positioned to attract passing trade. A short walk or buggy-ride to the main resort, the 120-seater restaurant sits on Jalan Petitenget, with an al fresco terrace out front for diners to soak up the street buzz. True to Alila’s ‘surprisingly different’ mantra, interiors are indeed different; after all, who would expect a pizza restaurant in Bali to evoke a retro modern California vibe?

The design scheme has been created by Goodman himself along with his team at EDG, a multi-disciplinary studio headquartered in San Francisco. A former chef, Goodman found his true calling in the concept development and design of hospitality spaces, and is now partner and Managing Director of the firm’s Singapore office. With Flat Stanley, the team looked to the Pacific West Coast for inspiration, bringing the California’s 1950s heyday to Southeast Asia.

Bookcases – beautifully dressed with retro curios and artefacts – cleverly divide the restaurant into more intimate zones

“We wanted to create a venue that captures the retro spirit of California,” explains Goodman. “The idea was to take diners on a road trip from Los Angeles to Palm Springs so the design is Mid-Century Modern all the way, with fun vintage touches and a carefree attitude.”

Despite pizza getting top billing, Goodman points out that Flat Stanly is not an Italian restaurant. “It’s critical we communicate that from the outset, so we really wanted to drive home the California vibe,” he notes. “We made sure the concept touched every element, from the accessories to the playlist, which features almost entirely California artists.”

Medium grain woods mix with warm sunset tones while iconic pendant lighting and the clean lines of the furniture pay homage to the Mid-Century Modern aesthetic. Even the restaurant’s name bears relevance to the era, with Flat Stanley being a fictional character from the 1964 book in which a boy makes the best of his flattened form and travels to California by being mailed in an envelope.

Bookcases – beautifully dressed with retro curios and artefacts – cleverly divide the restaurant into more intimate zones, yet the open shelving means that it works equally well for large groups. There’s variety in the seating options too, with traditional dining tables interspersed with booths for social occasions and sofas for more leisurely dining. There’s also a bar, which serves as an extension to the restaurant, or can be used for private parties or special events; a recent pop-up saw Neon Pigeon bring its signature cocktails and bar snacks over from Singapore for the festive season.

If you’re wondering where the Balinese flavour comes into the equation, it’s quite literally in the flavour. Every ingredient (bar the tomatoes from California) is sourced locally from Bali and its surrounding islands, with White spending months searching for the right flour and testing fermentation conditions to perfect his pizzas. The self-proclaimed ‘dough-head’ is in fact a classically-trained French chef, having studied at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas before stints with Wolfgang Puck and Michael Mina. But a passion for dough led him to Singapore to open Extra Virgin Pizza for The Lo & Behold Group, and it was here that he met Goodman, a regular diner with his office nearby. The pair hit it off, so when the opportunity for Flat Stanley came along, Goodman knew White was the man for the job.

Involved from the outset, White was able to design the kitchen as well as develop the menu, which features a selection of small sharing plates such as roasted cauliflower with tahini and romesco; grilled octopus with garlic confit; Bali clams steamed over champagne butter; and salt-roasted beets accompanied by whipped feta, sorrel and heirloom radish. Naturally though, the sourdough pizzas are the main attraction, with the classics joining more inventive toppings such as ‘nduja and jalapeno, chorizo and broccolini and shortrib meatballs. There’s plenty of options for vegetarians too – including truffle, roasted eggplant and kale and pumpkin – with half of the menu being meat-free, and the option to replace cheese with vegan mozzarella.

Crispy on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside, Flat Stanley’s pizzas have already won a legion of fans, which White believes is due to his tried-andtested 48-hour sourdough fermentation process, as well as the cooking method – an environmentallyfriendly electric deck oven by PizzaMaster, which produces the same results as a wood-fired oven but without burning tonnes of solid fuel.

The cocktail menu meanwhile makes a return to California, with Venice Beach Roller, Rodeo Drive Moscow Mule and Hollywood Martini featuring alongside East LA Mojito and Big Sur Daiquiri, with local ingredients such as passion fruit, coconut, Kaffir lime and Indonesian Nusa Caña Rum once again bringing a Balinese flavour. And while Bali-meets- Cali may seem an unlikely combination, cross-cultural fusions are tipped to be a big trend for 2020; Flat Stanley may well have hit the spot.