There is no better mix than good, old-fashioned dessert and good, old-fashioned perseverance. This is the lesson that the 31-year-olds Jonas Bourhis and Sacha Lefebvre carry every day as they run Paris Sorbet: an idyllic bistro and dessert bar of French gourmets and sweets nestled in the teeming Wolter Monginsidi avenue of South Jakarta. The cofounders-slash-real-life-mates came to Jakarta as twentysomethings with nothing but youthful optimism and adoration for the otherwise foreign land. And when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many restaurateurs to close up shop, Jonas, Sacha and Paris Sorbet refused to pack their bags and surrender to (no pun intended) the bitter times.

"Ah, it was too late to give up," Jonas told The Jakarta Post with a laugh. "I mean, after all the energy and the effort that we have been providing since the beginning, it was not an option."

Looking at how the government-mandated lockdown has started petering out and how the infamous Jakarta heatwave seems to be inching closer, Jonas and Sacha are ready to transform Paris Sorbet into its full potential: a breezy oasis for Jakarta urbanites looking for an authentic and sophisticated feast and refreshment, The Hexagon style.

Friendly business: Paris Sorbet was founded by long-time pals Jonas Bourhis (left) and Sacha Lefebvre. (Courtesy of Jonas Bourhis Paris Sorbet) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Jonas Bourhis Paris Sorbet)

Conversations with friends

To call Paris Sorbet the fruit of an enduring friendship would not be an overstatement. Jonas explained that he and Sacha had known each other for "maybe 15 years", both hailing from La Rochelle, a city located on the west coast of France. After graduating from high school, the two pals decided to leave for Bordeaux — a port city and a capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Southwestern France — to pursue their respective higher education: Jonas studying "business kind of stuff" at a university while Sacha worked and trained to be a chocolatier. "That's how we started thinking about, like, doing something together," Jonas recounted.

Their first idea was simple: "to open a chocolate shop together," said Jonas. Cut to a few years later, he and some of his friends decided to take a year-long trip around Asia and Southeast Asia — an excursion that led him to the idea of opening a shop in the latter region. Sacha was in Australia at the time, having spent some time in Southeast Asia as well.

Once the two were reunited, their decision could not have been more effortless.

"We were quite familiar with Southeast Asia. We like it, to be honest. It's great, especially Indonesia because we like traveling in Indonesia!" Jonas gushed.

Not everything was a piece of cake, though. While choosing Indonesia as the location for their business venture seemed like a no-brainer for Jonas and Sacha, a dilemma soon followed: whether to open their shop in Bali or Jakarta. As a foreigner-slash-aspiring restaurateur, Jonas concurred that, on paper, Bali might seem like a more familiar and "saturated" market to tap into, considering how the island had become popular among fellow foreigners who have opened their respective food-and-beverage establishments. But ultimately, their curiosity over the more unfamiliar capital city won them over.

"After the trip, we went back to France, then we thought about Jakarta. We came to Jakarta for two or three months, actually. And after that, we went back to France again in 2018. And then, not even six months later, we moved here," Jonas summed up.

Duck tales: The Homemade Duck Confit is a slow-cooked duck leg with whole grain mustard sauce and gratin dauphinois. (Courtesy of Felix Martua) (JP/Felix Martua)

During their three-month sojourn in Jakarta, the twosome came to discover both a challenge and an opportunity: that its citizens and urbanites were not necessarily familiar with French desserts.

"When we came here the first time, we saw gelato [frozen dessert originated from Italy] everywhere and only gelato. So we tried most of them, and of course, we've been, like, to many malls [in Jakarta], trying pretty much everything and we were, like, 'Okay, I think we have an opportunity. What we want to do is actually different’," said Jonas.

Considering their financial ability at the time, Jonas and Sacha decided to temporarily step away from their initial idea and instead, establish an "ice cream bar" that served French sorbets and desserts. Further research gave them the confidence to eye Wolter Monginsidi avenue for their eventual cafe site. In October 2019, Paris Sorbet opened its door to its first customers, with Jonas handling the business and managerial operations and Sacha focusing on being the "artisan" of the menu.

Paris van Jakarta

When devising the concept of Paris Sorbet, Jonas and Sacha were keen on a muted and guileless interior design, therefore exuding a "minimalist" ambiance that could appeal to all kinds of gourmands: children, young adults, working adults, couples and even large families. To boot, the founders deliberately avoided adorning the cafe with Parisian-like, stereotypical decors.

"If I were to work in a place that is too French-y, with Eiffel Tower and everything, I wouldn't feel comfortable, to be honest," Jonas said, chuckling.

In Paris Sorbet's early days, its French sorbets became the cafe's mainstay and signature offering — the dish that also put the cafe on the map. The sorbets come in various flavors, catering to every customer’s different and distinct palate when it comes to frozen, sugary treats. For foodies who prefer something classic and syrupy, Paris Sorbet's salted caramel sorbet is worth a try: a concoction of caramel chantilly, chocolate biscuit, caramel sauce and caramelized hazelnut. In case the gourmand in question is in the mood for something sour, the cafe's raspberry sorbet — an icy blend of fresh strawberry, vanilla chantilly, biscuit and raspberry nectar — would make for an interesting taste-making experience as well.

The sorbets' authentic French styling aside, Jonas and Sacha understood that adding an Indonesian twist to the age-old recipe could also appease the sweet tooth whose taste buds might have been more accustomed to a more localized delicacy. Paris Sorbet's pineapple ginger sorbet, for instance, is a mash-up of fresh pineapple with basil, vanilla chantilly and ginger biscuit.

"Ingredient-wise, Indonesia actually has lots of great products. The vanilla that we use is from Papua. The cacao is from Sumatra. The coffee is Java," said Jonas.

Paris Sorbet also takes pride in how it produces its sorbets — a quality that, Jonas believed, is the key reason behind the cafe's selling point. Unlike most dessert bars and ice cream parlors, Paris Sorbet does not utilize heavy machinery to process the sorbets.

"Our ice cream and sorbets are freshly-made. So we use, like, a small machine, and every day we actually churn the sorbets and the ice cream. Every morning before we open. And actually, what [also] makes the difference is, of course, the recipe. Our recipe," he underlined.

Sour taste: Le Bourbon Sour is a signature cocktail made of lemon sorbet, Bourbon and Papua vanilla syrup. (Courtesy of Jonas Bourhis Paris Sorbet) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Jonas Bourhis Paris Sorbet)

As its business operation carried on, Jonas and Sacha realized that "some things were missing," said the former. Believing that they should adapt to most Jakartans' affinity for savory food and their inquisitiveness for other French cuisines, they decided to expand their menu by offering protein-based meals and cocktails. For the first-time diners of Paris Sorbet, Jonas would personally recommend the Homemade Duck Confit: a slow-cooked duck leg with whole grain mustard sauce and gratin dauphinoise (potato slices and cooked in milk and cheese). Another Jonas' personal recommendation is Le Bourbon Sour: a signature cocktail made of lemon sorbet, Bourbon and Papua vanilla syrup.

Narendra, a 33-year-old private employee and a regular to the cafe, applauded the "homemade" quality of Paris Sorbet's desserts and the owners' hands-on serviceability. "I think there is no ice cream parlor out there that is like Paris Sorbet," he gushed.

"Jonas would always ask [the customers], 'How's the food today? How's the drink? Is there something you find dissatisfactory?' I think seeing the owner speaking with the customers itself is a one-of-a-kind experience. We get to build a rapport with the owner, especially considering the owner happens to be a foreigner."

Paris Sorbet opens every day, including public holidays, from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m. and is also open for private parties. Catering service is available upon request. For more details, including reservations, check out its Instagram @paris.sorbet.