The high-end dining landscape of Jakarta is buzzing with the arrival of ESA, a contemporary culinary-based restaurant led by Chef Aditya Muskita and Jessica Eveline. Located in the urban SCBD Park Lot 7A3 area, the restaurant adopts a fine casual interior concept, a genre currently making waves in the global restaurant scene.
ESA Restaurant, Jakarta's New Fine Casual Gastronomy Officially Opens
Derived from the Sanskrit language, 'esa' translates to 'one' or 'singular.' This is fitting considering ESA is the first venture for its owners. To craft its logo, ESA collaborated with the Bandung-based design firm, Nusae, renowned for its work on iconic projects like Taman Ismail Marzuki and the renowned fashion brand Peggy Hartanto. Philosophically, ESA's logo, shaped like vertical strokes, draws inspiration from banana leaf lines. "The banana leaf symbol was chosen because the values it embodies represent togetherness or a common ground in various Indonesian and Asian dining cultures. The banana leaf symbolizes sitting together, representing home, overlooking background differences," explains Jessica Eveline, Restaurant Director and Managing Partner of ESA.
To design a calm, modest-luxury yet warm restaurant interior, the dining space is meticulously designed to ensure guests feel comfortable, making it a gastronomic destination in the heart of Jakarta's business district. To enhance the aesthetics, ESA also collaborated with Erreluce, an award-winning lighting space consultant known for their work in upscale restaurant and elite residential projects.
As a restaurant, ESA recognizes that collaboration is a key factor in building a sustainable brand. With the kitchen as the restaurant's focal point, ESA proudly partners with Nayati, an Indonesian brand of kitchen appliances with a global reputation. Collaboration extends to the realm of consumer experience, where, together with Atsiri, ESA has crafted a special aroma that embodies a warm, grounded, yet elegant character. An aroma that enhances the sensory experience while dining at ESA. For the variety of plate shapes used in the restaurant, Chef Aditya personally designed them to align with the vision of the dish concept and had them produced by Jakarta-based artisan pottery maker, Tanakita Ceramics.
ESA embodies the “New Jakarta Cuisine”, a culinary genre born from the city’s cosmopolitan characteristic. This type of cuisine reflects the diverse backgrounds of Chef Aditya, who also represents millions of Jakartans, giving birth to a new identity and the essence of the city they proudly call home.
ESA introduces its first season with the menu theme "Season Heritage." "The heritage concept we embrace doesn't mean something traditional or 'old-fashioned.' In the first season, ESA's heritage is more about the background of the chef and founders, who, as Jakarta residents, have been exposed to various ethnic backgrounds and culinary concepts, both local and international," says Jessica. "Therefore, in this first menu series, guests can experience a variety of familiar taste discoveries in one dish. For example, a touch of Chinese, Sundanese, and French influences in our 'Foie Gras Parfait' dish," she explains.
The skillfully crafted menu at ESA comes from Chef Aditya Muskita, the chef-partner of ESA. Drawing from his experiences in renowned high-end restaurants such as Mozaic and Room 4 Dessert in Ubud; Daniel Boulud Bistro in Singapore; and Relae in Copenhagen, Denmark; Chef Aditya designs each dish with a familiar taste profile but with surprising touches. One such dish on the ESA menu is the "Ikura Tart," where homemade burrata cheese is paired with ikura (salmon roe) and served with crispy plantain tart.
The concept of serving food is also unique, emphasizing progression or segments in the ESA menu. "There's something beautiful about the culture of sharing food in Asian culinary traditions. We don't want to eliminate that. Instead, we marry it with the course menu concept typical of high-end restaurants, offering a fresh concept in Jakarta," explains Chef Aditya Muskita, referring to the ESA set menu, where food is served for sharing but still in a sequence from appetizers to petit fours.
In addition to bringing a fresh concept with the "sharing set menu" style, ESA also presents a fermented juice concept paired with its menu. "Fermented juice pairing is a concept gaining attention in many gourmet restaurants in Asia and Europe. It's not just about wine anymore, but fruit and vegetable-based drinks made by the restaurant team, fermented and designed to harmonize with the food served," says Jessica Eveline. The unique combination of apple and vanilla, pineapple and cinnamon, to cranberry and chocolate creates distinctive flavors during fermentation, making the dining and drinking experience even more memorable.
ESA will officially open to the public on January 19th, 2024, from 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM.