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The last thing you want to do on your honeymoon is work, but while Ali Reza and Mita Abidin were enjoying theirs in Paris, they found themselves spending time dreaming up an idea for a new business venture — one which would end up bringing a little piece of France back to Jakarta .

Walking down a beautiful Parisian street in 2008 the couple stumbled across an old warehouse. They walked in and were taken by the industrial rustic vibe of the structure.

“In Jakarta, most cafes are minimalist or futuristic in style,” Reza said. “It’s getting so boring. So we thought it’d be a good idea to have a cafe or restaurant in this Parisian style back in Jakarta — and voila — here it is.”

The result is the exotically named Kaffee Hausen Sinou, a new two-story cafe-restaurant that serves coffee that is roasted in-house, delicious French toast, pancakes, waffles and homemade bread. The staff prepare French pastries in an open kitchen. The name Sinou is actually Mita’s nickname, a variation of sinok, Javanese for “dear daughter.” Kaffee Hausen is a combination of German and Dutch for “coffee house.”

“We also wanted to start up a cafe because we wanted a nice place to meet,” Reza said. “My wife was busy with her job, I was busy with mine, but Sinou is something we created together, and it’s a place where we can be together.”

Kaffee Hausen Sinou is indeed a cozy meeting place in the mould of Central Perk, the comfy fictional coffee shop from the popular TV series “Friends.”

The ground floor is full of vintage-influenced furniture, with most of the pieces designed by Reza and Mita themselves. Considering the couple have never studied design — Reza studied marketing and advertising, while Mita studied economics and accounting — they have done a pretty good job.

The cafe has an eclectic mix of furniture — no two seating areas are the same.

Sequinned pillows with Oriental prints sit on warm red, purple and brown sofas, inviting customers to relax, drink a hot cup of coffee and have a long chat with friends. Next to the sofas are wooden tables with green, blue and rose chairs. Part of the wooden floor is colored red and green, while other parts feature tasteful floral designs.

Mita designed almost all the lamps at Sinou. At the cafe entrance stands a particularly interesting lamp made of teacups and upsidedown vases. Other lamps are adorned with butterfly cutouts.

It is the small things, the treasures found on their travels or in flea markets, that catch the eye in Sinou — like an old radio, a vintage fan, bottles and vases from Yogyakarta or the colorful salt and pepper shakers from Saudi Arabia.

A sliding door covered with paintings in the back leads to the private Vineyard Room. A small water fountain, ivy on the walls and bowls filled with grapes give the aptly named room a quiet appeal.

“This room is very popular,” Reza said. “People use it for gatherings and birthday parties. Sometimes we also leave the sliding door open, so it makes the ground floor feel more spacious.”

A spiral staircase leads visitors past the building’s blueprint, which Reza has painted on the wall, and up to the second floor. Up here there is even more seating that is just as cozy as downstairs. An outdoor area here is especially popular in the evenings when the sun has set and the heat has given way to a cool breeze.

Reza said he and Mita were not targeting a specific group of people. “Sometimes on Sunday mornings families with children come in,” he said.

“On the weekends, young people come here, and on weekdays, businesspeople crowd the place, so we have all kinds of customers. We just wanted to create a cozy place to hang out.”

Kaffee Hausen Sinou
Jl. Panglima Polim V No. 26
Kebayoran Baru
South Jakarta
Tel: 021 725 8568
Open daily from 10 a.m.