Local cafe culture blossoms in Jakarta

Local cafe culture blossoms in Jakarta

By Angela Romano

JAKARTA (JP): The opening of a new cafe in Jakarta's Mandarin
Oriental hotel last week reflects a blossoming local "cafe
culture". KafeKafe is the latest in a stream of cafes, bistros
and cafe-cum-nightclubs to open in the city in the past year,
buoyed by the apparently unquenchable thirst of Indonesia's newly
prosperous for fresh entertainment experiences.

KafeKafe's official opening on Monday night attracted a mixed
crowd, including foreigners in business suits who rubbed
shoulders with somberly attired local businesspeople and members
of Jakarta's glamorous design set.

The scene was vastly different 10 years ago when patrons were
almost exclusively expatriates. In the 1990s, Indonesians have
moved in to take their place at the table. KafeKafe estimates
that 70 percent of its patronage to date has been Indonesian.
B.A.T.S., at the Shangri-La hotel, has similarly found that 65
percent of its clients are locals.

This flowering of Indonesian cafe society reflects broader
social changes which have stemmed from economic development.
B.A.T.S. manager Randal Linhart attributed the vibrancy of the
cafe scene to a new confidence and poise in the growing middle
and upper classes.

"Along with more money and more success, Indonesians are
recognizing the fact that they can now relax and enjoy their
leisure time, to thank themselves for the hard work they have
done," he said.

The Mandarin's general manager, Ingo C. Peters, noted that
this new Indonesian market is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan
and sophisticated.

"In the last few years people in Jakarta have become very
switched on in terms of their understanding of food concepts.
Indonesian people have started to travel more abroad for business
or to study, and this has exposed them to new food trends," he
said.

Cafe Batavia's manager Bryan Bickham said increasing contact
between foreign and local businesspeople has had a similar
effect.

"Businesses know that foreigners worry about the hygiene and
water quality at smaller restaurants. So they take their foreign
clients to the larger places they would not normally visit, and
the business lunch becomes an educational process for them," he
said.

Bickham believes that rising levels of imported goods has also
boosted demand for foods that would not have been tolerated five
years ago.

"Imports from the United States and Europe have introduced new
influences," he said. "People who wouldn't eat water buffalo from
their hometown might try buffalo steaks from Denver, Colorado."

Beyond developing a new daringness in food, patrons are also
demanding greater creativity in service and entertainment.
Linhart noted that Jakarta's nouveau riche are always seeking
novelty, quickly tiring of the same fare.

"Indonesians tend to float around to different exotic venues,
unlike expats who tend to stick to a few favorites," he said.

KafeKafe has catered to this adventurous spirit by moving its
kitchen into an innovative multilevel dining area. Diners stroll
around various "food stations", watching and drawing in the
aromas as the chefs pull the chickens from the Indian tandoori
oven, toss the steaming contents of the woks at the noodle
station, slice fish at the sushi bar, brew fresh coffee, and so
on. Diners participate by instructing chefs on how they wish
their meal to be prepared.

It is still early days for KafeKafe but the Mandarin's
resident manager, Martin Rinck, is encouraged by initial customer
response.

"In the afternoon from three to six o'clock, when restaurants
are traditionally quiet, KafeKafe is still alive. It's like the
buzz never stops. It keeps going around the clock," he said.

Even in the early hours of the morning, the cafe is serving
customers -- often the post-party, post-disco set who pop in for
their ayam bubur and other culinary pleasures.

Other cafes and clubs have responded to demands for innovation
by trying (not always successfully) to create a distinctive
ambience.

Cafe Padussi and the Jimbani Cafe, for example, reproduce the
soothing aura of a Balinese cafe -- the Padussi with its cool
porch, fine teak furnishings and ikat hangings; Jimbani with
artwork and ornaments, and the gentle swish of waiters who walk
by in black-and-white checked sarongs.

B.A.T.S. and the Poster Cafe were among those who chose a more
gritty, modern style. The Poster Cafe's T-shirt and sandal-clad
clientele eat with their fingers in a warehouse-style venue.
B.A.T.S. has a New York industrial atmosphere, with unpolished
wood and exposed bricks, table accessories made from car parts,
chunky glassware and plates designed with crack-marks.

Such variations in style are indicative of two markedly
different groupings in the cafe scene.

The first set go out to see and be seen. Bickham, for example,
is not shy about describing Cafe Batavia as "a place where
beautiful people meet.

"Mixing with the models and designers is good for your
prestige and a lot of fun. These people have a lot of attitude.
And once you start meeting some of these people, you go a lot
further in society," he said.

Linhart said his clientele belong to a second grouping, which
prefers a casual, friendly, down-to-earth environment.

"They want a way to say that 'I've made it', without wearing
their money on their sleeves. They don't go around telling people
how expensive their car is. I think they want to say they have
worked hard for their money, and now they've got it," he said.

One regular B.A.T.S. patron, Bambang, raised his eyebrows at
suggestions that keeping in the public eye is an important part
of the cafe scene.

"I like to be alone, with my wine and good music. I don't
worry about the rest," he said.

With so many venues offering different services and settings,
proprietors must work hard to maintain a long-term clientele.

The three-year-old Cafe Batavia is one venue planning to
overhaul its image. Bickham admits its clientele is mainly
expatriate because it has lost most of its original Chinese
customers to cheaper Chinese restaurants nearby. Bickham hopes to
lure more middle to upper-class Indonesians -- the so-called AMEX
crowd -- possibly by increasing Batavia's emphasis on creative
cuisine.

"We are looking at introducing fusion cooking, where the chefs
take the best ingredients and cooking techniques from different
countries and ethnic groups, and fuse them together in each
dish," Bickham said.

He added that cafes and restaurants cannot stay in business if
they follow the same format for more than a few years.

"Customers are fickle. They are not loyal all. They may come
back for special occasions, but you have to keep up with market
trends if you want them to come regularly," he said.

Architect and urban designer Brendan Seage agreed that
proprietors must be willing to revamp and update because
customers "tend to get bored with existing things".

"The key is to introduce sufficient change, without going for
gimmicks which quickly lose their appeal," he said.

Linhart also warned that continuous dramatic change is
counterproductive.

"Nervous club managers will always try to be the chameleon and
change to become whatever's hot. A lot of people change every
year, going after a completely different market because they
think there's a new market out there.

"Once the opening crowds die off, you need to identify who is
in your reliable market, to recognize the people's personalities
and their needs. Those people will keep coming back and they'll
bring their friends too," he said.