Decanter – Wine House

The Story on Wine, quality of wine taste harmonized in cozy and romantic ambiance.

Enjoying a glass of wine in a cozy environment may well be an exciting moment. Such can be attained at Decanter – Wine House located in the North Tower Plaza in Kuningan, Jakarta, with its cozy and homey concept; the harmony of ambiance, delicate cuisine, and the ultimate, the best wine from various countries.

The existence of one of this hangout spot is pioneered by one Yohan Handoyo, along with his partners. Yohan, who is also a member of the Jalan Sutra community and the author of book “Rahasia Wine” (the Secret of Wine) had always been an enthusiast of wine and admitted to have fallen in love with the sensation brought in by the beverage made of grape. Started off by working in a restaurant during his study abroad, Yohan became familiar with wine. Although located in the business estate of Kuningan, the atmosphere of the relaxing joint is far off from formality. It seems that the decorator and also owner wish for a place filled with comfort and familiar being. As ARTI walked through the door, the office surroundings fade through the main entrance. Small lights suspended at the ceiling remind of an evening at the park.

Several sets of wooden benches and bars dominate the front area, andmoving inside, visitors can choose comfortable seats on a large size set with a long table such as a family dining set that usually serves large numbers of guests. Tens of pots filled with decorative plants also give nice view by the side of the room, making the lovely surrounding even more felt.

“The concept of this place is fixed to make the visitors feel as if they are at the house of a friend or relative. That said, the parting of the room also follows through the flow that of a house. The front is analogized as a porch complete with its garden lamp, and coming in there is a sofa that is usually put in the living room area, and then there is the dining room and kitchen to serve food,” explained Shirley Wirawan, Decanter’s Marketing and Sales Manager.

What’s unique is that the kitchen part is made of stainless material, and the customers can freely observe the food servings. According to Shirley, only light meals such as salads and appetizers are prepared in the clean kitchen.

“This kitchen is part of the room interior, we call it the dry cool kitchen or salad station,” Shirley said.

As a wine house that serves wine from various countries, it doesn’t feel right to not review a glimpse on the wine served at the Decanter Wine House. Over 50 choice wine from France, Chile, Italy, South Africa, Argentine, Canada, Indonesia, and several other countries. According to Yohan, the growth of wine production escalates around 20 percent annually, thus adding more enthusiasts to wine. “When wine was only enjoyable in star hotels, now it is everywhere. This restaurant holds the main strength on the wine menu, but not only that, not only do we serve wine, but also the experience,” claimed the author of
book “Rahasia Wine” (the Secret of Wine) that was chosen as the World’s Best Wine Education Book by the Gourmand International.

The customers can also view the wine collection of Decanter those are held behind a glass chamber with particular temperature. According to Shirley, wine, unlike other beverages, is chosen by the best taste of the enthusiast. There are those who enjoy wine dominated by the sweet taste, and those who enjoy the sourly. To keep the customers away from boredom, the Decanter wine list is adjusted per every two weeks.

After wine selection, the cuisines on the menu are also as interesting to taste. Several European delicacies such as pasta or steak a la chefs are also fitting to enjoy with a glass of wine. The special on the menu that is a popular amongst the customers are Sauteed Mixed Mushroom, Spinach Tagliatelle or Rigatoni Al Forno. The presented concept is also appealing, for you will be served the menus in large size dishes, as the motto from Decanter which is : the best things in life are shared.

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The Apartment: Convenience as eating at home

In addition to providing living room, kitchen / pantry, bedroom area, library and bathroom, there is also Jacuzzi.

The Apartment comes with apartment-style concepts. The cafe located in office area now becomes one alternative of characterized eating places. Incorporated in the culinary concepts group, selection of the concepts is like moving house room into the cafe. The guests are always busy even seemed to experience “home” in this place.

As explained by Tito Andhika, General Manager of The Apartment: “We want to make the guests feel comfortable, like being in their house. Look at the staff or the waitress wearing pajamas, the interior is like the room in the house, or about the same as apartment room. There are living room, kitchen / pantry, bedroom area, library and bathroom. There is also a terrace and Jacuzzi which are located outside with the semi-outdoor concept. “

All the rooms at The Apartment also made to resemble European apartment nuanced. As seen from the use of Scandinavian style furniture. “The concept is very unique; the interior room adopts Scandinavian style, the homey Eastern European region. It can be seen in the living room with wooden furniture and overstuffed and comfortable sofas,” said Tito.

In the first room on the front, there is living room. Here, visitors can enjoy the atmosphere of a warm and comfort family room. Moving into the next room, the atmosphere of a full kitchen with cooking devices welcome guests to dine. A kitchen set complete with a stove and other kitchen utensils to bring the atmosphere of eating in the dining room itself. Part of the bedroom and library are visible from the pantry area, seems to complete the house room that can be enjoyed by visitors. It is compared like being at home; they can choose to eat on everywhere; in the bedroom, or even in the library.

One very unique room is the bathroom equipped with bathtub, as well as some toiletries, became part of the dining room. According to Tito, this part is quite interesting because they may never do it at home. But because the concept carried is “a place to stay with all the trimmings”, and The Apartment also includes bathroom as part of the dining room for visitors.

Located in Gracia Tower, Kuningan area, The Apartment became an alternative for those who have high mobility and are always busy with business affairs. In addition to operating from 6 o’clock in the morning, this place also offers wi fi facility to support the work of the guests who were still taking care of jobs in between meals. “Here is very homey and cozy. With the wi fi facilities, quite a lot of people who work or taking care of business while drinking coffee and eating,” said Tito.

As one of the unique-concept restaurants that established on April 15, 2009, it was calculated as a newcomer. However, The Apartment was already well known in the Socialite. According to Tito, this place is quite often used as a gathering place, a social gathering, birthday party or just hangout.

“At first, it was a bit difficult to maintain the crowd; because of the location of this place covered by an office and the edge sign is not too obvious from the street. And not a few of those who think that The Apartment is a residence. But now, when they had knew, visitors began to increase, and many of those who make The Apartment as a gathering or a private party place and became a regular member, “said Tito.

Here, visitors can enjoy a variety of international menus especially Italian food that has been modified according to the taste of Indonesia. “For food, many are asking why the restaurant with the concept of home is selling international menu such as pasta and pizza. In fact, the concept of home that we adopted here is not home a la Indonesia, but the concept of the European home,” said Tito.

For pasta lovers, there are some very tempting menus to try, such as Spicy Spaghetti, Penne Pesto Chicken or Prawns Risotto. There is also Gracia Tower Lasagna, Beef Ratataouille Tower and Wagyu Beef Cheek as a main course with a large portion. Under Executive Chef Andry Winata, various meals menu has a very rich flavor of spice. He is also known with his cleverness on mixing “The 7-blends” spice that combines 7 kinds of plant spices. And all the food and beverages served at this place does have an unusual quality taste.

“Because we are a restaurant, the entire served menus are really special. About the price, it is proper with the quality and quantity given here,” said Tito who had long been in the food and beverage world.

Once satisfied with enjoying a dish of The Apartment, in the librarythemed space, there are many books that can also be read by visitors. In the whole rooms there is also a variety of magazines that can be a friend when eating, as it should when we dine in the dining room, at home.

“Basically, this restaurant is a family hangout place. But with its location in the central business district, so most visitors until now are business people or workers. Well, many families come to visit on Sunday,” said Tito.

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Cafe Batavia: Classics in the Old Town

Presenting charm and the ambiance of classic-romantic.

ld town does have the charm and certain appeal to the tourists. Moreover, the structure classical architecture filled with historical values. Besides its uniqueness and artistic values, the Old Town zone always captures attention. As one of the history tourism destinations, the Old Town zone is supported by various facilities, making the visiting tourists easy to reach the location and acquire comfort.

One of the facilities is the classical-romantic café: Café Batavia, which is located directly in front of the Fatahillah Museum. Café Batavia stood since year 1992 and becomes one of the restaurants that present itself with the theme ranging not far from the Old Town’s. Established in an old structure that also has historical values, from the front Café Batavia seems simple. However, it becomes the favorite spot for tourists after a walk around.

“Café Batavia is located in the Old Town zone and stands in a building aging over than 200 years old. At first the building was the residence and also the office of a Holland-native Governor. What makes it special is that the building is the second structure that was constructed after the Fatahillah Museum,” described Nita Rosita, the Public Relations of Café Batavia to Arti.

The historical value of the structure that was made into this resto adds more value with the concept that is also in-line with the shape of construction. From outside, the café seems to have no difference with other buildings surrounding it. But you can’t just judge by seeing the outer part of it. Try to step inside, and enjoy a different experience from the outside.

The heat of the sun is immediately swept away with the cool air conditioning, although the coolness can’t be directly felt. The room with glass opening at the front side gave a change of atmosphere as we move into the inner area. On the first floor, a bar and several sofas are ready to accommodate the customers who wish to kill their time in the place. Not for-getting a compact stage at the left side, providing live music from bands those perform jazzy tunes.

A large size stairway with art-deco style is also ready to escort the customers to the second floor. By the side along the stairs, tens of old-time frames are hung; collection of the Café Batavia owner. “The entire photographs displayed on the café’s walls do belong to the owner who is also a collector. As for the pictures and photographs on the pillars in the
centre of the room, they are menus of cuisines, comprising of breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu can be seen based on the pictures put in the frames,” Rita explained more.

Besides the frames with menus attached at the back, on one side of the room there is also a picture of the Governor who resided at the structure. The entire room gave more classical nuance with antique furniture and the gramophone music playing unique phonograph records.

According to Rita, one of the best spots that have become the favorite place for the customers is the side of the resto that faces the museum. “The side that faces museum area is one of the favorite spots of the place, because they usually hang-out while dining and read books while looking at the sceneries once in awhile. There are also customers that just sits there all the way from breakfast through dinner,” she told.

The menus are quite varied, with western cuisines and Chinese food, and also several Indonesian menus such as fried rice and ox-tail soup. A few western menus that become the favorites are Poached Egg Benedictine, with the unique flavor combination of fishcake, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and caviar with lemon cheese sauce. Besides that the salmon steak and a dimsum package filled with shrimp flavor also make the customers stay longer at the Café Batavia.

“Besides to taste the cuisines, the customers are also here to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the café. For the specific tourists from Holland, this place serves as the memorial for their ancestor’s path. We have not become only a resto or a dining place, but also a tour guide; a place for them to ask all they want about the Old Town zone. We provide them with the information they need,” concluded Rita.

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