Thirteen years ago, Cuca started with a dream that was simple in feeling, but wildly ambitious in practice: to create a restaurant in Bali that did not feel copied, imported, or dressed up just to impress people. We wanted to build something personal. Something rooted here. Something full of flavour, heart, humour, and the kind of hospitality that makes people feel genuinely looked after.
Looking back now, thirteen years later, we realise Cuca was never just about opening a restaurant. It was about creating a place where people could come together, slow down, share food, celebrate life, and hopefully leave with a memory that stayed longer than the meal itself.
And somehow, after all these years, here we are. Still cooking. Still learning. Still polishing glasses. Still chasing that tiny, magical moment when a guest takes the first bite and suddenly stops talking for a second. That pause is addictive.
This anniversary feels especially meaningful because it arrives in a year that has reminded us why we do what we do. Being named one of Tatler’s Best 20 Restaurants in Indonesia 2026 for the second year in a row was an incredible honour, the kind of news that makes a team smile a little wider, stand a little taller, and then immediately go back to work because, well, service is starting. But although awards are wonderful, and we are deeply grateful for them, at Cuca they are never the final destination. They are a reminder. A quiet nudge to keep showing up with intention, to keep taking care of every detail, and to never forget that hospitality is not built on trophies. It is built on people.
It is built on our guests, who have trusted us with birthdays, honeymoons, anniversaries, family dinners, last nights in Bali, first visits, return trips, and the occasional “we just came for one cocktail” that somehow turns into a full dinner.
And it is built on our Cuca fans, the wonderful people who keep coming back, keep cheering us on, keep bringing their friends, keep recommending us in conversations we are lucky enough to hear about later, and keep reminding us that a restaurant becomes truly special only when people choose to make it part of their own story. Some have been with us since the early days. Some discovered us on holiday and now return every time they are in Bali. Some send their friends, their families, their guests, their clients, or that one foodie cousin who is impossible to impress. To all of them, we can only say: you are the reason this journey still feels so alive.
Cuca is also built on our team, many of whom started with no experience and grew into confident hospitality professionals through patience, training, mistakes, laughter, long nights, and a lot of heart.