Photogenic Cafes

After reading “Best coffee shops to take OOTD photos” from ootdindo.com, me and Elke picked GoodHood Coffee + Kitchen from the list to visit. This cafe is located at the Dipo Business Center, Gatot Subroto (It took me 2,5 hours to get here! Curse you traffic jam!)

It is no doubt a photogenic place to take OOTD photos. There are murals on the wall and big windows that alows light to come in (obviously a great lighting for the pictures). If you wonder which spots are good, just ask the waiter and they’ll recommend you a great spot to take a photo. Don’t forget to take a picture infront of the cafe because it has a white brick wall a.k.a my favorite type of wall (seriously, it makes a great background). We were lucky the place was empty cause it was after lunch time in a weekday. So we can take alot of photos without people disturbing.

  
   

Besides the photogenicness of the cafe, it’s a coffee shop afterall so I ordered cafe latte (Rp 37.000) and Red Velvet cake (Rp 39.000). The coffee was nice, but the odd thing was that the red velvet cake was served warm (I don’t understand the essence of this cause it’s usually served cold).

The second place that we visited was Gastromaquia, located at Senopati. It was a really cozy and inspirative place with lots of D.I.Y crafts as their decoration. My favorite one was the silver spoon and fork chandelier, a simple yet creative piece of art. There were also cute patterened pillows lined up on the sofa. Love it (and wanna steal it! *Just kidding*). This place makes me wanna make my own crafts! It even has a reading area with books that you could borrow, definitely a recommeded place for your “me time”.

  
  
           I only ordered Bubble Gum Gastro (Rp 42.000), a mocktail with bubble gum syrup, mix strawberries, and apple juice. What surprises me that it uses molecular gastronomy techniques to make small pearls that pops in your mouth!

This places are definitely a must-visit if you wanna take good ootd pictures. Happy OOTD photo hunting!

Cooking Class!!

Bored of the mall, me and my friend Atil decided to take a cooking class last Friday at Bogasari Baking Center, located above Titan Baking Store at Fatmawati. There are a lot of classes available like Japanese food, street food, pastry and other delicious food! Cause we both love to eat Italian cuisine, obviously we choose the Italian class where we learn how to cook lasagna, pizza and grissini from scratch (all ingredients prepared). With a price of Rp 715.000 I got an apron, recipe book, lunch and of course new skills.

To join the classes, you must book at least 3 days before and transfer the fee to the bank account. You need to bring a pen and some containers enough for the dishes. The class starts at 9 am and ends at 4 pm.

After a short briefing about the basic of Italian food, we prepare and weigh the ingredients. We mix the pizza dough, shaping it into balls, then stick it into the freezer. Next step, preparing the sauce (we use bolognese sauce). In a large pan we stir in tomato, tomato paste, and other ingredients (FYI it smells really good). Some of us prepared the toppings for the pizza and the rest made the lasagna dough (its pretty hard cause we have to shape it to thin sheets). Last but not least, we stir in cheddar cheese and cream for the lasagna.

Now its time for the assembly! So each of us made 2 lasagna with the following oreder: sheet – bolognese sauce – beef – creamy cheese – and repeat. Topped with creamy chesse and some basil, the lasagna is baked in the oven. Moving on, we shape the pizza dough and sprinkle the toppings that we desire (I made a meat lovers pizza). Topped with a combination of parmesan and mozzarella cheese, the pizza is baked in the oven.

Tadda! These mouthwatering dishes are done! Immediately I grab a piece and stick it in my mouth. It tasted devine and rich of cheese, just how I like it (cause I LOVE CHEESE).

After stuffing myself with cheesy goodness, we started to make the grissini which is an Italian bread stick. The dough is shaped like a long rope and then divided into two. Then olive oil is brushes in the surface and sprinkle salt and sesame seeds on top. Put it in the oven for a couple of minutes and viola! Grissini is ready to be served!

To those out there who likes to cook, I definetly recommend this place. I would return again to try a different class. So, keep cooking guys!

Ps. Due to a high cooking spirit, I tried to make a strawberry panna cotta after the class cause Atil said it was easy to make and taste delicious! She proved it right!

Happy new year 2015!

Hey guys! Happy new year 2015! So how do you spend the start of this new year? As you know, lots of people is now travelling out of Jakarta so it’s basically trafic-free. Cause one of my agenda in this holiday is tasting food at the currently trending cafes, I decided to stop by 3 cafes with my friends Dara and Elke. Suprisingly it only took about an hour to reach this places, usually I spend more than 2 hours (duh cause I live in Cibubur).

So our first destination is *drum roll please* Tredici Ristorante located in Senopati. It serves Italian food and has a nice ambience especially in the outdoor area where walls are decorated with plants. I tried Gnocchi Valle D’aosta for Rp 92.000 and it was quite nice (maybe cause I’m hungry).  You could change the ham with beef by request. The service here is also fast and what I really like is that they give us a welcome bread (a blessing if you arive hungry).

Tredici restaurant (courtsey of zomato.com)

Next stop is… Dia.lo.gue Artspace located in Kemang that is known for its famous edgy stairs. This place has modern design with some unique art pieces, suitable for people who likes to take pictures. But its a shame that the service doesn’t meet up with the comfy ambiance. Why? Cause the lack of employees. But luckily I didn’t order any food here (I know I’m supposed to order but I only want to take pictures here hihi).

The famous stairs of Dia.lo.gue

Last but not least, Hyde Kemang. This is my favorite place compared to the other two. I really love the different ambience that we get in different rooms but its all comfy. I ordered the famous chocolate soil for the price of rp 55.000 and it tasted devine. The unique approace of having it displayed like a flower pot with the soil and worms is quite disgusting at first, but when you dig in we could taste the richness of the different textures of chocolate. I would definitely go back here.

Hyde Kemang’s signature dish: chocolate soil