More Euro, less trash in new cafe experiment

I Made Tuorda ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 09/21/2008 9:47 AM  |  On the Town

With a ligament-snapping handshake and irrepressible enthusiasm, long-term Jakarta expat Dieter Speer wants us to know he's doing something brand new for cafes in the city.

The respected chocolatier -- of The Embassy of Chocolate Fame -- springs over to the table in his newly opened Kemang caf* and spills out a handful of oily, dark-roasted beans.

Poking a grizzled finger into the pile, Speer says his newly dubbed Les Classiques is designed to raise the bar of what Jakarta cafes offer.

The caf* is doing away with a full kitchen in favor of what he sees as his strengths: coffee and pastry. A few paninis are the only deference to those not entirely taken with Speer's purist interpretation of caf* culture.

Speer, who in a previous incarnation worked as a successful pastry chef, says he "got annoyed" with the standard of cakes after more than a decade in Jakarta.

For the new caf*, he has set up his own boulangerie at the edge of town and is baking the cakes, including less common fare such as tortes, every day. Anything left by the close of business is thrown away, Speer says.

Speer says he has taken the same meticulous philosophy to his breads.

"Our baguettes maintain their crusts quite well, longer than you see in other bakeries' bread performance. Also our grain breads are doing very well and I'd say this is due to our long fermentation process," he says.

And then there's the coffee. Eighty percent of the beans come from Indonesian highlands on Papua, Flores and Sulawesi and produce a gently acidic and full-bodied brew.

Speer has hired fellow expat Joseph Targuinio to buy the beans direct from Indonesian farmers, bypassing the market for all except the remaining 20 percent, which comes from South America.

The result, he says, is a blend with more subtlety than can usually be found in Jakarta, which he demonstrates by forcing my companion and me to slurp down a couple of thick espressos.

Asked if he thinks securing a consistent flow of all the right beans for the blend will be a problem, Speer says no.

"We have ensured our supply for the next two years," he says.

With hearts flibbering under the influence of a caffeine overdose, Speer moves us on to the pastries, the highlight of which are his light and chewy danishes, which are made extra small to encourage visitors to the caf* to eat more than one at a time.

The danishes, cakes and fluffy, buttery croissants are certainly a draw but the stand out is the hot chocolate. As with the coffee, Les Classiques is sourcing and roasting its own cacao.

The result is something unrivaled in the city and best drunk with spare time to savor. The hot chocolate is rich and thick with cacao but gently roasted enough to avoid excessive bitterness and get past even the most sensitive tongues.

"I'm addressing a niche market. The fact is I want to go very European. It will not be for everyone, I'm fully aware of that," Speer says.

"That's why I'm addressing the connoisseur, I'm addressing those Indonesians who have lived in Europe or studied in Europe and developed European taste buds."

While Speer has been frustrated with the quality of the offerings in Jakarta cafes, he thinks the city is ready for what he has to offer.

"This will not be the only store, this is our pilot project," he says.

"I don't see that we are going into the malls. Too many restrictions."

Les Classiques Cafe
Jl. Kemang Raya No 45B South Jakarta
Tel. 7179 1753

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.