St Ali has conquered the next phase of its global expansion mission with the opening of its first Southeast Asian location on 2 February.
Owner Salvatore Malatesta flew the star-studded barista trio Matt Perger, Ben Morrow and Lachlan Ward to Indonesia for the first week of February, to launch St Ali Jakarta.
Located on the ground floor of a shopping centre, the latest international St Ali store is in partnership with Indonesia’s Common Grounds Roastery.
Matt, Ben and Lachlan ran a series of workshops in 2014, which lead to an invite for an Indonesian collaboration.
“It was an easy decision for me to bring the heart of Melbourne to the heart of Jakarta,” says Common Ground Founder Aston Utan. “St Ali will be a game changer here for coffee connoisseurs, especially as we try to transfer that specialty coffee movement to Indonesia.”
St Ali Jakarta is decked out to cater to the specialty coffee crowd, with two 30-metre brew bars, to complement the brand new La Marzocco espresso machine. The bars will offer a variety of the latest Australian coffee trends, including cold drip, siphon, nitro and pour-over.
“What Melbourne has is culture and experience, today it is almost impossible to walk around a corner in Melbourne without the familiar scent of a perfectly brewed coffee wafting down a laneway,” says Salvatore. “This is what we are trying to transport here to the heart of the city.”
The Melbourne roaster is not only replicating its popular coffee styles in the busy city, it is also taking most of its South Melbourne menu, and Australian’s love of all-day breakfast.
St Ali and Deadman Espresso Chef Mark Richardson has also found a new home in Jakarta, with Mark overseeing the serving of Australian café fare in the new store.
This is the second international café for St Ali following the opening of a London store, now Workshop Coffee Co, in 2011. Plans are currently underway for a new café in Bali in 2016.