Indonesian food business opening first Toronto brick-and-mortar location

A popular Indonesian food business ifromToronto is opening its first-ever permanent location next month.

What began as a passion project in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is about to enter its most exciting chapter yet, as Toronto-based Indonesian food pop-up Sambal gears up to open its new brick-and-mortar this August.

Then-students Maureen and Jasson, along with a crew of close friends, had no intention of building a local empire when they first began cooking Indonesian cuisine from their home kitchen and hand-delivering it across the GTA. But in the five years since they started, that's exactly what they've done with Sambal.

"At first it was just a side hustle project, something fun to keep us busy, but it quickly became so much more," Jasson and Maureen tell us. "For Indonesians here, the food felt nostalgic, [but] for everyone else, it was something completely new and exciting."

They served up a wide-spanning menu of Indonesian classics, from hearty Basko Soup to flame-grilled Ayam Bakar that tastes like it was plucked fresh off the grill at a Jakarta street food stall, always paying the utmost attention to doing right by the local Indonesian community while proving to the non-Indonesian community that this cuisine is just as deserving of a spot on the city's culinary map as any.

Spoiler alert: they've more than argued their case.

A lucky break came, Jasson and Maureen say, when they got the opportunity to open a longer-term pop-up out of Square One Shopping Centre's Food District in Mississauga, to great success.

"It was a huge leap of faith for us, but that moment opened the door to something bigger, our food reaching not just Indonesians, but Canadians everywhere," they tell us.

Now, they're on the cusp of yet another turning point for Sambal, as they prepare to open the business’s first-ever permanent location, which they say "honestly feels surreal."

"The menu still carries those bold, comforting dishes we love: slow-cooked beef rendang, wok-fried nasi goreng, and smoky chicken satay," they say, "but for us, Sambal has always been more than just food: it is about connection, storytelling and sharing a real taste of home with Toronto."

A bit more than a hop and a skip from their already established fan base in Mississauga, the new restaurant is taking over a space at 463 Danforth Ave. that was most recently occupied by the Pancho y Emiliano spinoff, Camaleon.

Still, Jasson and Maureen say that the Danforth community simply "felt right" for the next chapter of Sambal.

"When we started looking, Danforth just clicked," they say.

"It’s such a mix of cultures now. It used to be Greektown, but these days it's this amazing blend of communities and flavours," which makes it the perfect nest for Sambal, which, as Jasson and Maureen note, has always been about bringing diverse crowds together around a bounty of Indonesian eats.

While the restaurant's menu is still under lock and key — as in, you literally need a password to access it on their website — Jasson and Maureen tell us that crowd pleasers like their 48-hour slow-cooked Beef Rengang, Chicken Satay and "spicy in the best way" Nasi Goreng will all be making appearances.

You can also expect some new additions, too, like the Konro Bakar, a spicy, smoky marinated beef rib dish, as well as a full complement of Indonesian-inspired cocktails to cut all that spice.

Coincidentally (or, you could say, serendipitously), the restaurant's scheduled opening day, Aug. 17, falls on the date of Indonesian Independence Day, "so it feels really special," the founders say.

They've got a special private event to celebrate the holiday lined up, and will proceed to open the restaurant to the public on Monday, Aug. 18.