Cafe culture: Let's sip and talk
Cafe culture: Let's sip and talk
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Kenny Santana and Bruce Emond
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
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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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