Happy March, everyone! I know, I know, it’s been March for a while now—in fact, the month is almost over—but I feel like I haven’t really chatted with you at all this month. Both my posts from the previous weeks have been more focused on technical things—which I love—but I’m glad for the chance to just catch up with you guys every now and then. The month has been kind of a whirlwind actually, following a week-long leave I took off work. To say it’s been exhausting would be an understatement—it was decidedly draining. I cannot wait for Ramadan next month—time to slow down and retreat into myself, if work would allow me. Also, very excited for the series of posts I’ve got lined up for you guys then too. Watch this space!
Until then, let me catch you up on what I’ve been up to in March. Like I said, I started the month taking (almost) a week off from work. No reason in particular, just wanted to use up some of my vacation days carried over from last year. I ended up spending it making more tempe—with various beans this time, getting my third dose of vaccine, going on solo dates and playing badminton with my love. This is one of the stories from that week.
Pasta, Bitte!
Happy March, everyone! I know, I know, it’s been March for a while now—in fact, the month is almost over—but I feel like I haven’t really chatted with you at all this month. Both my posts from the previous weeks have been more focused on technical things—which I love—but I’m glad for the chance to just catch up with you guys every now and then. The month has been kind of a whirlwind actually, following a week-long leave I took off work. To say it’s been exhausting would be an understatement—it was decidedly draining. I cannot wait for Ramadan next month—time to slow down and retreat into myself, if work would allow me. Also, very excited for the series of posts I’ve got lined up for you guys then too. Watch this space!
Until then, let me catch you up on what I’ve been up to in March. Like I said, I started the month taking (almost) a week off from work. No reason in particular, just wanted to use up some of my vacation days carried over from last year. I ended up spending it making more tempe—with various beans this time, getting my third dose of vaccine, going on solo dates and playing badminton with my love. This is one of the stories from that week.
Pasta, Bitte!
The other day Agung and I paid a little visit to this quaint space, hidden in a small corner of Kemang—Jl. Bangka, to be precise. I’d known about it for a while, since a work friend showed a Manual Jakarta post of it months ago. Truth be told, I’d wanted to visit ever since, but never got around to it until recently.
If you know me at all, you probably know that I’m a huge sucker for pasta. Any kind of pasta—spaghetti, fettucinne, macaroni, fusilli, penne, linguine, angel hair, farfalle, rigatoni, ravioli, gnocchi, cannelloni, lasagna, you name it and I’d eat it. So you can imagine just how excited I was to finally try out this place—especially after the gleaming reviews by some of my friends.
I ordered a Fusilli Cacio e Pepe with mushroom—yum! And Agung ordered a Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with king prawn—his favourite sauce. We both love our respective food. They make their own pasta, which gives it such a unique flavour and texture. The fusilli, in particular, come in very organic shapes—unlike the store-bought kind that we are familiar with. The Cacio e Pepe is showered in creamy cheese and high-quality mushroom goodness. Honestly, I’m salivating right now just as I’m writing this.
Drinks-wise, though, they leave it all to pre-packaged beverages, so we ordered a bottle of green tea and a can of Cola. I mean, it’s fine and understandable, since they focus on the food to deliver that quality.
The other day Agung and I paid a little visit to this quaint space, hidden in a small corner of Kemang—Jl. Bangka, to be precise. I’d known about it for a while, since a work friend showed a Manual Jakarta post of it months ago. Truth be told, I’d wanted to visit ever since, but never got around to it until recently.
If you know me at all, you probably know that I’m a huge sucker for pasta. Any kind of pasta—spaghetti, fettucinne, macaroni, fusilli, penne, linguine, angel hair, farfalle, rigatoni, ravioli, gnocchi, cannelloni, lasagna, you name it and I’d eat it. So you can imagine just how excited I was to finally try out this place—especially after the gleaming reviews by some of my friends.
I ordered a Fusilli Cacio e Pepe with mushroom—yum! And Agung ordered a Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with king prawn—his favourite sauce. We both love our respective food. They make their own pasta, which gives it such a unique flavour and texture. The fusilli, in particular, come in very organic shapes—unlike the store-bought kind that we are familiar with. The Cacio e Pepe is showered in creamy cheese and high-quality mushroom goodness. Honestly, I’m salivating right now just as I’m writing this.
Drinks-wise, though, they leave it all to pre-packaged beverages, so we ordered a bottle of green tea and a can of Cola. I mean, it’s fine and understandable, since they focus on the food to deliver that quality.
What makes this place unique, aside from its top-notch homemade quality, is also its owners—a German-Indonesian couple, the Gabereders. Hence, the Anglo-German name of the restaurant. It’s kind of interesting to see what an Italian restaurant by a German owner would look like. Personally, I find a slight German influence to the taste of the pasta itself—the texture is somehow reminiscent of Spätzle, which is a signature German pasta—but maybe I’m just kidding myself. However, the whole aesthetics of the place feels more Japanese seaside than German or Italian, to be honest. It ends up being a beautiful melting pot of numerous cultures.
On top of that, it turns out when you order, you get to construct your own dish by choosing the sauce, the pasta and the topping according to what you like. It gives a sense of limitless possibility, which definitely got me intrigued to come back—although probably not too soon, since it’s understandably on the pricey side. Agung and I are definitely eyeing the ravioli to try next time.
What makes this place unique, aside from its top-notch homemade quality, is also its owners—a German-Indonesian couple, the Gabereders. Hence, the Anglo-German name of the restaurant. It’s kind of interesting to see what an Italian restaurant by a German owner would look like. Personally, I find a slight German influence to the taste of the pasta itself—the texture is somehow reminiscent of Spätzle, which is a signature German pasta—but maybe I’m just kidding myself. However, the whole aesthetics of the place feels more Japanese seaside than German or Italian, to be honest. It ends up being a beautiful melting pot of numerous cultures.
On top of that, it turns out when you order, you get to construct your own dish by choosing the sauce, the pasta and the topping according to what you like. It gives a sense of limitless possibility, which definitely got me intrigued to come back—although probably not too soon, since it’s understandably on the pricey side. Agung and I are definitely eyeing the ravioli to try next time.
The place itself is very quaint and small, being able to contain only a packed kitchen, 5 tables and a maximum of 11 seats. Yet, somehow—I supposed due to its being featured not only on Manual Jakarta, but also Whiteboard Journal, two prestigious, independent lifestyle publications—people kept flocking to this place in troves. Their force is strong!
The whole time we were there, people came and went constantly. Most of the seats were always filled, in turns—not to mention the Gojek and Grab drivers who picked up the delivery orders. And to think that it was already well past lunch time when we ate there—amazing!
Personally, Agung and I enjoyed eating there, despite the place being very cramped together. We thought it felt quite Italian already, just missing a view of the vineyard right next to our table. Instead, we get a little florist just across the street from the restaurant—which is just as quaint.
The place itself is very quaint and small, being able to contain only a packed kitchen, 5 tables and a maximum of 11 seats. Yet, somehow—I supposed due to its being featured not only on Manual Jakarta, but also Whiteboard Journal, two prestigious, independent lifestyle publications—people kept flocking to this place in troves. Their force is strong!
The whole time we were there, people came and went constantly. Most of the seats were always filled, in turns—not to mention the Gojek and Grab drivers who picked up the delivery orders. And to think that it was already well past lunch time when we ate there—amazing!
Personally, Agung and I enjoyed eating there, despite the place being very cramped together. We thought it felt quite Italian already, just missing a view of the vineyard right next to our table. Instead, we get a little florist just across the street from the restaurant—which is just as quaint.
Raw Footwear
If, after you’re full with pasta, you have hankering for some crafted goods, you might just want to look next door to a small handmade leather shoe store. Not unlike its neighbouring restaurant, this place also has such an inviting façade, piquing my interest right off the bat. You know my shoes are mostly leather—some being vintage, others being vegan. It surprised me to find a place like this in Jakarta, since I didn’t think leatherwork is something you find in this big city. Honestly, only in Kemang. If you’re looking for something, Kemang is most likely the place to find it.
Thrifted top + skirt // Hand-me-down purse + earrings // old boots + socks // photos by Agung
Raw Footwear
If, after you’re full with pasta, you have hankering for some crafted goods, you might just want to look next door to a small handmade leather shoe store. Not unlike its neighbouring restaurant, this place also has such an inviting façade, piquing my interest right off the bat. You know my shoes are mostly leather—some being vintage, others being vegan. It surprised me to find a place like this in Jakarta, since I didn’t think leatherwork is something you find in this big city. Honestly, only in Kemang. If you’re looking for something, Kemang is most likely the place to find it.
Thrifted top + skirt // Hand-me-down purse + earrings // old boots + socks // photos by Agung
For fun, we decided to just take a look around the store. It was filled from corner to corner with beautiful leather shoes—oxfords, brogues, loafers, pumps, mary janes, t-straps, boots, they were all there. For men, for women, everything looked so well crafted with incredible finesse. Not just shoes too, they had bags, purses and hats. I was awestruck by everything in the room.
I asked the lady who manned the front desk how anything works. She said, anything that was in the room was available for purchase–but they all only come in one size. If the shoes fit, I can buy them. Otherwise, I could have them custom-made—which would take up 4-6 weeks and around IDR 300K per pair, depending on how intricate the design is.
Aside from making custom leather goods, they also offer leather care and maintenance services which I will be looking into, since I own a lot of vintage leather items. Hope I’ll get to have custom shoes made someday soon too, though!
For fun, we decided to just take a look around the store. It was filled from corner to corner with beautiful leather shoes—oxfords, brogues, loafers, pumps, mary janes, t-straps, boots, they were all there. For men, for women, everything looked so well crafted with incredible finesse. Not just shoes too, they had bags, purses and hats. I was awestruck by everything in the room.
I asked the lady who manned the front desk how anything works. She said, anything that was in the room was available for purchase–but they all only come in one size. If the shoes fit, I can buy them. Otherwise, I could have them custom-made—which would take up 4-6 weeks and around IDR 300K per pair, depending on how intricate the design is.
Aside from making custom leather goods, they also offer leather care and maintenance services which I will be looking into, since I own a lot of vintage leather items. Hope I’ll get to have custom shoes made someday soon too, though!
Never Tulle Late
Last but not least, let’s talk about the outfit. You might notice that there’s a new item here. Yeah! The skirt is newly acquired from Dejavu by Iparan, which is this cute little thrift store—a lot of small, quaint spaces in this post, huh?—located in Bintaro, not too far from where I live. I found the place by accident around a month or so ago, when I went past it on the way home from somewhere. I was so happy to find this skirt, since I’ve always dreamt of owning a tulle skirt. Originally, I would have preferred to have it in periwinkle or powder blue, but beggars can’t be choosers, you know. Black is cool too, though it’s giving me a gothic, Lydia Deetz vibe. Oh, wait, maybe that’s what I should be for Halloween?
What quaint new place you discovered recently?
Never Tulle Late
Last but not least, let’s talk about the outfit. You might notice that there’s a new item here. Yeah! The skirt is newly acquired from Dejavu by Iparan, which is this cute little thrift store—a lot of small, quaint spaces in this post, huh?—located in Bintaro, not too far from where I live. I found the place by accident around a month or so ago, when I went past it on the way home from somewhere. I was so happy to find this skirt, since I’ve always dreamt of owning a tulle skirt. Originally, I would have preferred to have it in periwinkle or powder blue, but beggars can’t be choosers, you know. Black is cool too, though it’s giving me a gothic, Lydia Deetz vibe. Oh, wait, maybe that’s what I should be for Halloween?
What quaint new place you discovered recently?