Street Cafés and Eateries: Jakarta, West Java

I mentioned in an article the other day about the Pelangi Café and how Jakarta literally has thousands of these places making it a cosmopolitan metropolis.

I was intrigued to read an article the other day by Anissa S. Febrina on the culture surrounding these establishments:

It’s toasty all year round at outdoor eateries

Parisiens might have their cafes and Dubliners their pubs, but Jakartans stick to their street-side food stalls for afterhours entertainment.

Even though the night was still young, cars of every variety were lined up on both sides of a secondary street in Blok M, South Jakarta, as their passengers — families, couples and groups of teenagers — sat down on plastic chairs placed along the strip. Waiters in orange T-shirts printed with the words “Roti Bakar Eddy” were busily taking orders and hollering them out to the cooks hiding behind the food stalls.

“Five here! Two bottles, guava juice and avocado!” shouted Boni, one of the waiters. Strong lungs is all he needs to take and give orders — there is no pen or paper in sight.

Some 15 minutes later — 10 if one happens to be lucky enough to sit nearby the main stall — five plates of toast laden with cheese and chocolate sprinkles arrive.

Cafes and food courts may be multiplying at a steady clip across the city, but outdoor eateries like Roti Bakar Eddy will always stay in the hearts of Jakartans.

Twenty-seven-year-old engineer Arditya Sumampouw is among Eddy’s loyal customers.

He first went there during his college years, treating his girlfriend once a week. Now, he makes a point of dropping by everytime he returns to Jakarta from Kalimantan.

“I also go to fancy cafes, but this place is just unbeatable. Maybe because of the memories.”

It is probably true that reminiscing is part of the fun of eating at the street-side outdoor venues that are widespread in each municipality, as fathers and mothers can often be seen among the young crowd.

Two street musicians — one singing along to tunes from an old cassette player and another humming traditional Javanese songs while playing his siter (Javanese zither), are ready to spice up the night.

But not all food vendors have the Midas-like ability to turn the deep-rooted culture of “hanging out” into a golden business opportunity.

Some shut down after just a few months, destroyed by popular food fads or myths.

Eddy Supriadi, a native to Boyolali, Central Java, is among the rare few who understands that while the food business is more stable than many other industries, there is a lot more to it than just flavor.

Hidden behind government offices and the Al-Azhar school complex, Roti Bakar Eddy on Jl. Raden Patah, Blok M, is strategically located.

“I started here in 1999. After being evicted for the 13th time,” Eddy said.

He entered the toast business in 1971 after the owner of a toast stall on Jl. Hasanuddin, Blok M, asked Eddy — then a newspaper delivery boy — to work for him. A couple of years later, he set up his own stall not far from the area.

It seems that creating outdoor eateries is really his thing as everytime he seeks a new spot after being evicted, it turned into a hip hang-out venue.

Eddy may only run a toast stall with a daily revenue of Rp 4 million, but he also employs 21 of his Boyolali neighbors to help organize the place where some 15 other food stalls sell siomay, fried rice and fruit juice.

“I believe that everyone has his own blessings. There is no need to be too competitive and monopolize an area,” he said before excusing himself to receive a call on his cell phone.

“Ma, are you in Kemang? OK, I will send some there,” Eddy said to the caller who was apparently his wife, the manager of his new branch in Kemang Food Festival (KFF), a venue some 20 minutes’ drive from the area.

Located in entertainment hub Kemang, South Jakarta, KFF is a new breed of outdoor venue amid posh cafes, clubs and restaurants in the area.

To simply put it, it is a gentrified type of Roti Bakar Eddy.

Some 800 seats are arranged under umbrellas protruding from the center of wooden tables, surrounded by 33 food stalls offering a wide array of foods ranging from sushi to kebabs to, yup, Eddy’s original toast.

Here, tables can be reserved and street musicians are replaced by CDs of house music or easy-listening jazz. And one need not bother squeezing their car into a space on the street as valet parking officers are happy to take care of it for Rp 15,000.
While in traditional outdoor eateries bottled tea is enough to wash down your main dish, Australian wine and Heinekken beer are among the favorites at KFF.

“Outdoor dining is the current trend and we are merely trying to cater to it,” KFF manager Didi MK said.

In Kemang alone, there are three such places.

And the word “gentrified” automatically translates to higher stall rents.

Food stall owners in Roti Bakar Eddy in Blok M can run their businesses for Rp 5,000 a night, which they pay to public order officers, but stall owners in KFF must set aside at least Rp 6 million for an eight-square-meter space.

Although it has only been open for eight months now, KFF sees around 500 people a night and double that number on weekends.
Outdoor diners, make your choice!

Anissa S. Febrina