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Vietnamese coffee in high demand following Mirna's death
Maintaining innocence: Jessica Kumala Wongso was detained by the Jakarta Police on Jan
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Maintaining innocence: Jessica Kumala Wongso was detained by the Jakarta Police on Jan.30. She had earlier been named a suspect in the death of her friend, Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after drinking a cyanide-laced coffee earlier in January. Jessica has repeatedly denied her involvement in the death of her friend. (Kompas/Alif Ichwan) (Kompas/Alif Ichwan)
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span class="inline inline-center">Maintaining innocence: Jessica Kumala Wongso was detained by the Jakarta Police on Jan.30. She had earlier been named a suspect in the death of her friend, Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after drinking a cyanide-laced coffee earlier in January. Jessica has repeatedly denied her involvement in the death of her friend. (Kompas/Alif Ichwan)
"Ma'am, a table for two persons," a middle-aged woman told the receptionist of Olivier Cafe at Grand Indonesia on Friday afternoon.
"I'm sorry. We have to put you on a waiting list. The place is fully booked," a thin, long-haired female receptionist replied.
Indeed, the woman was not the only customer who would be left to wait for half an hour or more for the chance to enjoy a meal at Olivier Cafe on Friday.
Some decided not to wait in the queue.
"I cannot wait that long. I have a meeting at 3 p.m.," a young male executive complained.
The phone at the receptionist desk kept ringing. Patiently, the receptionist noted down the guest names on the ever-increasing waiting list.
"It's almost the weekend. Customers have come in throngs. That's why the cafe is so full," the receptionist explained to another customer.
Inside, as a jazz music recording played out across the room, an unusually relaxed atmosphere was to be observed among the bustle of the Friday afternoon crowd.
Despite the ongoing investigation into the death of Wayan Mirna Salihin, the young woman who died after consuming a cyanide-tainted Vietnamese coffee at Oliver Cafe in early January, there appears to be a gaping hole in the atmosphere where a sense of trauma or sadness is oft found.
Arguably, everything looks fine.
Customers come and go, taking it in turns to sit at table number 54, the table that bears witness to the last conversation between Mirna and her two companions.
Amid this scene, the cafe manager and employees are careful when responding to questions raised by journalists. As if reading from the same script, all waiters reply watchfully and with like-minded answers.
"I'm sorry we cannot talk to the media now. We wish to continue to show our sympathy to the family [of Mirna]," said a male waiter who had neglected to wear his ID badge.
Another waitress conveyed a similar statement.
"We cannot serve any interview," replied the young waitress respectfully.
Between noon to 1 p.m., the cafe announced that it had sold out of Vietnamese coffee. But, at around 2 p.m., customers were invited to order Vietnamese coffee again.
"We stopped the operation of our coffee machine for an hour because it had overheated. Many customers came here just to order this coffee," a waiter said, adding that he did not know how many Vietnamese coffee had been ordered.
Some customers said that it was curious that the Vietnamese coffee sold out so fast.
'Me and my friend ordered Vietnamese coffee before 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Unfortunately, a waiter told us that the coffee was sold out and said that Oliver had sold over 100 Vietnamese coffee before we ordered,' said Trinzky Syulivany, an Olivier Café customer, on Saturday.
As with other visitors to the café recently, Trinsky and her friends were put on a waiting list during their Wednesday visit and, although they had been made to wait for some time, they failed to taste the coffee.
'I came to Olivier Café because I was curious what it looked like. The café was so crowded so I couldn't imagine that such an incident could happen there. It was like nothing had happened,' Trinzky added.
Another customer Jefri Moses Kam, who visited Olivier with his colleagues on Friday, also said that he was curious about the so-called Vietnamese coffee. Before Mirna's death, Jefri had visited Olivier Café only to order cocktails. And yet, following the incident, Jefri tried to order the coffee.
'If you want to be energized, Vietnamese coffee is a perfect choice. Mirna's death did not make us fear tasting the coffee,' Jefri said as the cafe's waiters passed back and forth with Vietnamese coffee on their trays.
The Jakarta Police last week named Jessica Kumala Wongso a suspect in Mirna's death. In its investigation into the case, the Jakarta Police have carried out a series of reconstruction processes at the cafe. The police analyzed the difference between a normal coffee and one that had been tainted with cyanide and examined and filed each step of the coffee making process, starting from when the coffee pack was opened until the Vietnamese coffee, ordered by Jessica, was served.
After the murder, the café has been visited by a variety of guests, from coffee lovers and new clientele to journalists, prosecutors, and even police officers, most of whom are said to have come out of uniform.
While the cafe management welcomes every visitor, it does not want to reveal anything about the incident. To date, the cafe management have remained silent about the cyanide-tainted coffee but said that they plan to hold a press conference, together with the police, but gave no further details.
As the hopeful guests continue to crowd the Olivier Café reception area, it's is plain to see that business has not been affected much. With the significant increase in orders, it would appear that the mysterious case of Mirna may have transformed Vietnamese coffee into a cult-favorite. (ebf)
