Cafe culture: Let's sip and talk
------------------------ Kenny Santana and Bruce Emond The Jakarta Post Jakarta -------------------------
There are days when Nadira Alatas Sriwijanarko wants to escape from it all.
She heads to a small cafe in the Barito area of South Jakarta. It's a special refuge from her job as director of a public relations company, one of the hosts of Metro TV's Perempuan Perempuan, the local version of America's The View, and her responsibilities as a mother.
She sits down with a book or magazine and talks with the friendly staff as she takes a break. For many of Nadira's friends, however, cafes have become more than just a place to watch the world go by. Many of them spend the better part of the day in a cafe, whether it be having a business meeting or waiting in the late afternoon for the traffic to clear.
"Some of them go to cafes instead of doing exercise, for instance," Nadira said. "They will go there in the morning for a meeting, and then return there at night to relax."
Cafe culture in Jakarta has taken on its own meaning, distinct from the original function of cafes in Europe where regulars stop in for a coffee and a bite to eat.
Here the name cafe refers to all-encompassing recreation sites. It can be a bar-cum-restaurant or patisserie-cum-music venue. It can be a cozy place to chat, like Nadira's cafe of choice, a place to hash out deals, a bustling room with a dance floor or a children-friendly spot for families on the weekend. The cafes' selection of food and beverages is often limited, except for the obligatory cappucino costing double or three times the price of a cup of coffee in an ordinary restaurant.
"I like cool music and a relaxing atmosphere," said one Jakarta cafe regular in listing the attractions. "A sufficient crowd but not overcrowded. Discreet waiters, (the light) not too bright but not dark either. And hip clients make a hip cafe."
Although they are the middle ground between regular restaurants and high-profile clubs, cafes have become the places to see and be seen for the well-heeled. As soon as a new cafe opens, regular cafe-goers are sure to visit it and add it to their social schedule until a newer establishment takes its place.
"A cafe is, in the first place, where you go to have a drink, chat with friends, not for food, and that is one thing which I miss in Jakarta, that there is no real cafe culture," said Michael Anderson, a longtime expatriate resident of Jakarta.
The popularity of cafes has spread from Kemang, the traditional expatriate enclave of the capital, where they first began opening their doors in the early 1990s.
Cafes are now popular hangouts all around the city, but particularly in malls, from ones located downtown to the suburbs. Consider Plaza Senayan, one of the city's swankiest malls. Cafes are found on every floor, from Haagen Daz Cafe on the ground floor to Cafe Wien occupying a perch in the eaves. New additions are Magnolia, a division of the trendy Cinna Bar, and W & L, a spinoff of W Cafe in Kemang.
Manager of Alessandro Nannini Cafe located in the mall, Awan Waluyo, acknowledged the Italian chain had adapted itself to the demands of Jakarta's cafe lovers.
The cafe started out with the regular fare of coffee and pastries when it opened in the mall five years ago. But its varied menu today is different from that found at other Alessandro Nannini's in its home country and branches in Portugal.
"Customers started asking for more complete meals, so we added things like pasta and lasagna," Awan said. "And then they asked about Indonesian meals, and so we added them too."
Awan agreed, however, that it was atmosphere that customers sought out first, not the food.
"I strive so people can enjoy the environment, music and service. Sometimes we hold fashion shows, secretary gatherings, painting shows. Basically, it's the environment that's sold. It's not too crowded, not too busy, and that is what our customers are looking for. Our food is still good, but it's second to the atmosphere."
The formula seems to work. Awan said about 70 percent of his customers were regulars, visiting on average about four times a week, and some of them would come up to three times in a day. He added that his business had remained steady when the crisis struck in mid-1997, and was now growing about 15 percent to 20 percent annually.
"We get a lot of office workers in during the day, but at night it's mostly businesspeople meeting with their clients," Awan said. "On the weekends, however, there are a lot of families who come in."
Thus, for Jakarta residents seeking an outlet away but not too far from the madding crowd, cafes, whatever the definition, are still the places to be.
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