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The five course Decouverte menu at Emilie (perhaps Jakarta’s top French restaurant) is 1,280,000 rupiahs (US$98). Should you choose the “wine pairing” alternative, the price shoots up a further 60 per cent, which means that the Atlantic turbot, foie gras and a sublime sounding “croustillant” of caramel and chocolate are matched by a selection of New Zealand, French and American wines.
Emilie is located on Jalan Senopati in South Jakarta and isn’t far from where I live. When I first moved into the neighbourhood, the road was less glamorous and more humdrum: a hotspot for pharmacies, doctors and beauty salons.
Clearly, this has changed. I’ve been fascinated – if not alarmed – by some aspects of the transformation as the city’s gilded youth have descended on Senopati’s constantly-evolving roster of cafes and restaurants.
Aside from the traffic jams caused by hordes of wealthy patrons clambering out of their cars, Senopati is also expanding upwards.
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Property developers are scooping up the generously-proportioned family homes and turning them into apartment blocks. The largest is the property developer Agung Sedayu’s massive “District 8” project, a mere stone’s throw from Emilie.