SULAWESIOUS ENCOUNTERS
Tomohon, North Sulawesi
Slow Down, Taste and See Our World — Nourish your Body, Soul and Spirit.
We have no Michelin stars,
only grandmothers who wake at dawn,
light the family stove, and,
when you step through the door,
bake fresh klappertaart that makes grown men cry.
We don’t sell food tours,
we open the back door at first light,
hand you a wooden spoon still warm from an oma’s hand,
and whisper “masuk dulu, makan dulu”.
Riedel, Schwarz, Wilken arrived with Bibles, hymnals, and oven blueprints,
stayed for life,
and left us Three Legacies that still rise every morning:
the Word in Tombulu and Tontemboan,
the four-part songs that make the volcanoes listen,
and the sweet, fragrant klappertaart that taught a mountain how to pray with sugar and clove.
Here, every journey is a pilgrimage of flavour and faith
for the foodie who kneels in wet rice,
the gourmet who counts twenty-two trembling layers,
the gastronome who feasts beneath swaying palm-wine groves,
the pilgrim who longs to hear seven hundred voices turn an ancient chant into “Terpujilah Tuhan”,
the photographer chasing volcano light on old faces,
the hiker drinking coffee brewed on sulphur steam,
the birdwatcher tasting smoked tuna beneath the masked-owl’s stare,
the cyclist coasting downhill with clove scent and choir notes in the wind,
and everyone who has ever danced Maengket under the stars.
We were the first to call this gastronomy in Sulawesi,
the travelling heart of Komunitas,
still turning the world one slow revolution at a time:
Make The Food World Turn.
No neon, no haste.
Only the volcano’s patient breath, a grandmother’s quiet “selamat datang”,
and the moment the last note of mahzani kisses the first light on the farm.
Come hungry.
Leave luminous.
— Sulawesious Encounters In eternal partnership with Komunitas Perintis Pariwisata Gastronomi Tomohon (ASRIGASTRON)
Three Legacies, one table · 1851 – forever
We don’t sell trips. We open the back door of the volcano and say ‘masuk dulu, makan dulu’..
Three Legacies, One Table
“1851 – forever”
Three Germans. Three Johanns. They brought the Bible, the songs, and the ovens. We still speak their Word, sing their four-part harmony, and — when guests arrive — light the stove to bake the same klappertaart they taught our great-great-grandmothers.
Family First, Company Second.
Sulawesious Encounters is a tiny Minahasan family company born in 2019. We are farmers, palm-wine tappers, chefs, homecooks, baristas, bartenders, guide, teachers, crafters, photographers, mapalus, maengket, choir singers, pastors’ grandchildren, and proud members of Komunitas Perintis Pariwisata Gastronomi Tomohon. We simply decided the world should taste what we taste every day.
Make The Food World Turn
Together with the Komunitas we were the very first to call this “gastronomy tourism” in Sulawesi. No neon, no rush — only coal embers, mahzani verses, Maengket circles, and the quiet promise that when you arrive, the oven will be lit for you.
“I’d forgotten how varied and delicious the food here is. For me, it packs a spicy punch that is not overpowering but is just enough. I didn’t get a chance to try a new dish like snake, rat or bat but it only adds to the list of reasons to return to this land.”
– DANIEL HUME, ENGLAND –
Come hungry.
Leave Luminous.
Leave Family.
with Sulawesious Encounters