Located on the most prominent address in a strategic Jakarta’s central business district, Cassis has grandiosely positioned itself as a foremost dining venue embracing authentic French cooking served in a classy romantic dining ambience.
Since it opened in 2005, Cassis is designed to express the spirit of a continental dining room; not only for the restaurant’s elegant dinner, but also for its quick and easy luncheon. Owing to its bona fide features, this posh eatery attracts discerning crème de la crème of diners who enjoy the distinctive palate of real French that you might not find anywhere in town.
“We have received a number of prestigious awards for our food authenticity and the restaurant’s genuine stylish ambience, and we are bestowed the acknowledgment of being one of the best French fine dining restaurants in Jakarta,” Lody Anjes, the COO of Cassis Group, attests.
Stepping into Cassis, you will immediately feel the difference of opulent comfort. The restaurant’s picturesque setting with sophisticatedly elegant interior design magnificently produces an exclusively romantic atmosphere.
The 112-seat restaurant features two main dining rooms designed with by-window comfortable seating for 38, respectively. The table setting of 4 to 10 allows diners to intimately spoil their palate while enjoying the outdoor view of the pavilion. All the tables in both dining rooms are set with cutlery, glasses and plates neatly arranged to embrace the most genuine French culinary ritual. The dining rooms perfectly fit for a romantic evening out, be it with your spouse, family or close friends.
Valentine Dinner
For larger parties, Cassis provides three private dining rooms, each of which seats 12. The private dining room caters to the needs of a business meeting, indeed. But what makes the Cassis’s private dining room unique is that, as Lody adds, “It is designed in classy French setting yet the atmosphere is conducive to a professional business meeting or even for a family gathering.”
He furthermore says that the elegant designs adorned at Cassis are the work of George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, the internationally acclaimed interior designers who helm American renowned interior design firm Yabu-Pushelberg.
“Yabu-Pushelberg is the mastermind behind the Cassis’s timeless, elegant interior designs. The firm has over thirty years been known for their artistic interior designs for upscale restaurants and hospitality industries across the world. Among their clients, in addition to Cassis, are Hazelton Hotel, Toronto; W Hotel, Time Square, New York; and St. Regis Museum Hotel, San Francisco,” Lody describes. “They even won an award for their work on the iconic Paris department store, Printemps Haussman.
Wine Dinner
Regardless of Yabu-Pushelberg’s brillian concept in creating timeless elegance of genuine French at Cassis, Lody adds that the authenticity should also means focusing on traditional French cooking.
Cassis consistently provides internationally standard of the highest quality food that tempts your appetite with the most fastidious palate. The internationally acclaimed chef Stephane Simond mans the kitchen which serves sumptuous authentic French dishes and irresistible dessert selections.
Dubbed Chef “Cuisine Creative”, Chef Stephane has gained a myriad of experiences working in a number of star rated restaurants and hotels in France.
“I describe Stephane’s food as modern classic, which is traditional French food cooked in his creative way. We don’t do any fusion. We don’t do more than French,” Lody says.
A fine dining should be authentic, he adds, “You need to have strong identity of who you are. The success of Cassis lies in the restaurant’s authentic menu that includes French Haute Cuisine.”
Cassis has recently been revamped vaunting new creative signature dishes based on old time favorite Grand Mother’s recipes, also known as Grand-Mere Cuisine. Among the restaurant’s “must try” creative signature dishes are “Tarte Fine” Parmesan, Fresh Figs, Duck Foie Gras and Dried Magret, Balsamic and Petite Salad.
To start up, it’s best to relish your appetite with Cassis delectable cooking of Pan Seared Foie Gras, which is served with caramelized apples and toasted brioche in black currant sauce.
To satisfy your palate on the restaurant’s delicacies of a la carte, you can simply flip through the menu that offers a variety of dishes such as Pan Seared Dover Sole ‘Meunier’ served with asparagus, whipped potatoes and caper brown butter sauce; and Angel Hair Pasta Aglio e Olio served with grilled prawns, dried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.
Should you opt for an evening drink, Cassis’s wine list offers various new world and old world wines, ranging from sparkling wine to white wine and red wine from different French regions. For the red wine, the restaurant houses a variety of rich selection of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Pomerol, Pessac Leognan and St. Emilion. For the white wine, there are Burgundy, Sancerre and Alsace. And few great sparkling wines from Champagne region are also on the list.
Cassis also serves fine wines from Australia, a variety of cocktails, as well as Cognac brands of Martell VSOP and Hennessy XO, and other brands of spirit.
Be it scooping dishes to spoil the palate or swigging a mouthful of wine with relish, this sumptuous eatery is truly covers the best.
But don’t leave the place without trying L’Assiette de Fromage du Chef. It’s selection of the best seasonal assorted French cheese served with red wine poached pears, nuts, Mesclun salad and bread. Other desserts worth a try includes Le Fondant au Chocolat Fleur de Cacao Barry, melted passion fruit heart, mango ice cream; and Biscuit Mirliton, the traditional French pineabble, kiwi, mango, peanut ice cream paired with coffee.
It all sounds very French, but you don’t have to go that far. Cassis is where you can be pampered with great food and palatable beverages that make up a memorable, distinctive dining experience.
Published in Verde Newsletter, Vol. 2, 2011.