The minds behind Two Thirds Coffee have achieved a rare feat. After huge success with their first location among the young denizens of Jakarta’s Sentral Senayan I tower, they set out to meld the trend for midcentury Italian-style cafés with the listening bars colonising the world’s busiest cities. And the end result does a fine job of both.
The larger, standalone location, on a side street in Jakarta’s Pondok Indah neighbourhood, plays up the retro vibe with an envelope of teak-style wood and a marble coffee bar, on which the chrome-edged coffee appliances sit front and centre. Designer Ghefaza Pratsany, of local practice CAR, tiled the 63 sq m floors with emerald Sukabumi stone squares and added banquette seating — one long bench in a vintage-style brown leather, the other in a brave pale pink. Deep upholstered chairs help encourage customers to stay and listen.
Natural light is drawn in through two chunky skylights — one resembling the oculus at the Pantheon in Rome, in yet another concession to Italian design. At night recessed lighting and steel sconces take over — as do the vintage-style speakers, mounted vertically like a totem in the back of the shop by the most comfortable seating. The cafe pivots to savoury pastas and sandwiches later in the day until closing time at 9.30 pm.
