After ordering a macchiato, Ginan Pratama, 28, sat in a chair outside the Filosofi Kopi coffee shop, which was named after the popular novel of the same name.
Ginan is a regular at the cafe, located in Block M Square in South Jakarta. Travelling all the way from his house in Menteng, Central Jakarta, he enjoys the street nuance while drinking a good cup of coffee.
"Drinking coffee on the street while watching people go about their activities and interacting has a different feel", he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Working in the legal department at a property developer means he is indoors all day reading and examining documents. Having an outdoor activity, he said, was one way to get out and unwind.
Angga Satriawan, 25, an employee at a hospital who frequently visits the cafe. But the outdoor experience also comes with street singers and beggars disrupting their coffee sipping.
"They sometimes annoyingly force us to give them money, " he bemoaned.
Dozens of folding chairs and small tables are available for patrons. Once a customer arrives, a table and chair are placed on the sidewalk infront of the cafe, leaving little space for pedestrians.
A similiar setup is applied at a nearby Circle K convenience store.
However, the sidewalk is only 2.5 meters wide and the setup does not leave much space for pedestrians, forcing people to walk on the road. Although it is a commercial area managed by city market operator PD Pasar Jaya, Jakarta Public Order Agency head Jupan Royter warned that sidewalks should be reserved for pedestrians.
Filosofi Kopi manager Jodi Bani Wicaksono acknowledged that the outdoor sidewalk cafe concept, which he introduced in 2015, was far from perfect. The sidewalk, Joni said, was initially used simply because the one story coffee shop had limited space. It was a way to accommodate the growing number of customers, which could reach 400 people daily. Customers have praised the outdoor seating.
"We understand that Jakartans have high mobility. They are buzy working at their offices and get stuck in traffic on the way home. So when they hang out, they don't want to face any more walls," he said on Monday.
"Our customers don't come here to do office work. We want to bring back the essence of a coffee shop; a place for people to tell stories and share ideas," he said, adding that to encourage people to people interaction, the cafe did not provide wifi.
He said he was very excited when former Jakarta gobernor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama introduced the idea of opening sidewalks cafes because it was similiar to his concept.
Ahok announced a plan in October last year to turn sidewalks along the city's main thoroughfares Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman in Central and South Jakarta into world class sidewalks, ones that were wide enough to set up cafes without disrupting foot traffic.
Ahok came up with the plan to widen thw sidewalks by up to 10 meters following a visit to the Netherlands, where he found the concept common. Ahok said it would result in young entrepreneurs opening cafes in the area.
The cafe in Blok M, however, operates on a sidewalk that is only 2.5 meters wide.
Urban expert from Jakarta based Trisakti University Nirwono Yoga said the city administration would need to revise a 2007 bylaw on public order that prohibited commercial activity on sidewalks before preceding with such a plan.
Ginan is a regular at the cafe, located in Block M Square in South Jakarta. Travelling all the way from his house in Menteng, Central Jakarta, he enjoys the street nuance while drinking a good cup of coffee.
"Drinking coffee on the street while watching people go about their activities and interacting has a different feel", he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Working in the legal department at a property developer means he is indoors all day reading and examining documents. Having an outdoor activity, he said, was one way to get out and unwind.
Angga Satriawan, 25, an employee at a hospital who frequently visits the cafe. But the outdoor experience also comes with street singers and beggars disrupting their coffee sipping.
"They sometimes annoyingly force us to give them money, " he bemoaned.
Dozens of folding chairs and small tables are available for patrons. Once a customer arrives, a table and chair are placed on the sidewalk infront of the cafe, leaving little space for pedestrians.
A similiar setup is applied at a nearby Circle K convenience store.
However, the sidewalk is only 2.5 meters wide and the setup does not leave much space for pedestrians, forcing people to walk on the road. Although it is a commercial area managed by city market operator PD Pasar Jaya, Jakarta Public Order Agency head Jupan Royter warned that sidewalks should be reserved for pedestrians.
Filosofi Kopi manager Jodi Bani Wicaksono acknowledged that the outdoor sidewalk cafe concept, which he introduced in 2015, was far from perfect. The sidewalk, Joni said, was initially used simply because the one story coffee shop had limited space. It was a way to accommodate the growing number of customers, which could reach 400 people daily. Customers have praised the outdoor seating.
"We understand that Jakartans have high mobility. They are buzy working at their offices and get stuck in traffic on the way home. So when they hang out, they don't want to face any more walls," he said on Monday.
"Our customers don't come here to do office work. We want to bring back the essence of a coffee shop; a place for people to tell stories and share ideas," he said, adding that to encourage people to people interaction, the cafe did not provide wifi.
He said he was very excited when former Jakarta gobernor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama introduced the idea of opening sidewalks cafes because it was similiar to his concept.
Ahok announced a plan in October last year to turn sidewalks along the city's main thoroughfares Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman in Central and South Jakarta into world class sidewalks, ones that were wide enough to set up cafes without disrupting foot traffic.
Ahok came up with the plan to widen thw sidewalks by up to 10 meters following a visit to the Netherlands, where he found the concept common. Ahok said it would result in young entrepreneurs opening cafes in the area.
The cafe in Blok M, however, operates on a sidewalk that is only 2.5 meters wide.
Urban expert from Jakarta based Trisakti University Nirwono Yoga said the city administration would need to revise a 2007 bylaw on public order that prohibited commercial activity on sidewalks before preceding with such a plan.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar