Just off the bustling area of Senopati, Scarlett’s Café settles into its second home on the quiet residential street of Tulodong Bawah where visitors can be seen queuing at the door even before it opens, showing their thrill to indulge in the café’s beautifully made and decadent desserts.
Inspired by European cafés, the interior at Scarlett’s is dominated by brick walls, dark wood accents and metal ornaments, creating a warm and cosy ambience. One can take their time to explore its range of homemade cakes and desserts at the counter, from soft puddings and mousses to tarts and cakes—all made fresh daily.
Rooted in a love for baking coupled with the curiosity to explore, the dessert shop has grown from selling birthday cakes and ‘fatcarons’ (a macaron with a thick filling) online to having two stores in Jakarta over the years. Sisters and co-founders Martina and Jasmine Djohan started Scarlett’s six years ago in their home kitchen in Batam. In 2020, they moved to Jakarta and opened their first store in Pantai Indah Kapuk.
“Both me and Martina love desserts. Our offerings are basically curated based on the sweets that we like,” said Jasmine, who is also the brand’s content producer. With that said, one can say that Scarlett’s is an extension of the two sisters, a place where they get to experiment and share their favourite sweet creations.
Scarlett’s also doesn’t hide their inspiration, taking notes from the buzzing dessert scene in Korea as shown from the aforementioned ‘fatcaron’; a Korean adaptation of the French confection, these macarons are supersized with more cream fillings—hence the name—and has gained its own sensation there. “I draw a lot of inspiration from Korean culture,” remarked executive chef, Martina. “But at the end of the day, our creations are geared towards whatever we want to try.”
And that would explain the welcomed additions in the Senopati branch, such as new servings of heavy meals and an upcoming listening bar and movie nights. For the former, the outlet rolls out Scarlett’s first lineup of savoury dishes, where one can try the Truffle Capellini, which is cold angel hair pasta enveloped in truffle oil, or the Chicken Ham and Soft Scrambled Focaccia, a big focaccia sandwich with chicken ham and scrambled egg.
Don’t forget to leave room for Scarlett’s signature desserts, though. The café’s highly popular poured tiramisu takes the spotlight here, where at least one plate of it can be seen on every table. Selling 150 to 200 plates per day, the ladyfingers and layers of mascarpone are stacked and dusted with cocoa and coffee powder.
As much as Scarlett’s serves as an extension of Martina and Jasmine’s passion, the ceaseless crowd at Scarlett’s Café further proves that it has become a place where people can find things that they love and would face the morning rush for, as seen through the combination of indulgent sweet treats, comforting ambience and fun entertainment that the team has in store.
