Redwood City: Indonesian restaurant Warung Siska closes after less than a year

Less than a year after opening, Warung Siska — a rare specialist in Indonesian cuisine — has shuttered its doors in downtown Redwood City, a victim of the ongoing staffing crisis in the hospitality industry.

“Opening and operating a restaurant at any time is a challenge. Doing so during a 2-year-long-plus pandemic has made it an unending obstacle course,” restaurateurs Anne Le Ziblatt and Ervan Lim said in their announcement.

They had teamed up with chef Siska Silitonga, who operated the popular ChiliCali food truck in San Francisco, to introduce the Bay Area to the bold flavors of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands. Lim and Silitonga are natives of Indonesia; Le Ziblatt, who had lived in Jakarta as a child, decided to transform her Nam Vietnamese Brasserie into the new concept last year.

They launched the restaurant in July and offered numerous holiday events, including a Balinese feast last fall and special meals for New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day.

“We are proud to have shared their interpretation of modern Indonesian food with the Bay Area and thank you all for your kindness and support,” the owners said in their note.

Silitonga, who left the restaurant earlier this year, told Eater SF she is cooking at pop-ups and other events while exploring plans for a new restaurant that might also serve as an Indonesian cultural center.