The Shopdeca.com team then went on to shoot The Curators Project with fellow power woman and fashion blogger Clara Devi at Otel Lobby, Kuningan. While we were there, we also met with renowned chef Maya Aldy, a true power woman herself.
Maya is a top chef and co-owner of Otel Lobby, an eatery where guests can indulge in great food, top class cocktails, and sink into the extravagance of its hotel-like ambience. The eatery is inspired by a hotel in London that Maya visited in the past. The idea that you could order cocktails and chill out at a hotel lobby while using it as a meeting point was totally foreign to Jakarta, and Maya decided to bring it over to this city.
Maya gave us the inside scoop the inspirations behind the concept of Otel Lobby, its best dishes and cocktails, and of course, the challenges of being a power woman in the food and beverage industry.
When did you realize you wanted to be a chef?
M: For as long as I remember. It was started when I was 5 in my grandmother’s kitchen. The older I get, the more I cook, the more I see happy people eating my food, the more I feel like the kitchen is my happy place.
What inspires you?
M: Friends eating together, traveling to places, meeting new people, my grandma and the market.
What achievements are you most proud of?
M: In my profession, the proudest moment is when you know you can actually share and pass on the knowledge that you have.
In this case, when your staff that used to be your line cook got offered as a sous-chef at other restaurants.
Also, I’m pretty proud to say that I cooked for few presidents. I cooked for President Clinton, President Senior Bush and President SBY.
What are the challenges of being a woman entrepreneur?
M: The general challenge would be the same like any entrepreneur in any gender. But being an Asian women who lives in an Asian Country, you will sometime get that funny look when you enter an industry that is dominated by men, like the kitchen industry.
When you come in and say “I can cook” or “I want to be your chef”, you’re going to get that doubtful look on whether or not you can do it.
Regardless what challenges that you might come across in any industry, if you’re a born entrepreneur you can always say to yourself that you know you’re good at what you’re doing. Keep believing in yourself and things will fall into places.
Tell us how OTEL Lobby comes about.
M: The talks started at 2009, my best friend and I who are also my partner in OTEL Lobby, we often talk about having a nice concept of eatery in Jakarta where people can always come in and feel comfortable with whatever state that they’re in. They can wear sandals or any clothes they want to wear to have a nice dinner and cocktails.
One summer in 2010, we went to London and stayed in a nice hotel. We were thinking that it would be great if we can have this kind of hotel in Jakarta where you can just chill out at the Lobby, order a cocktail, or use it as a meeting point before you go out for a dinner. Then the talk sort of continues and we decided to go with the OTEL Lobby.
We started the construction on 2010 and then we opened our door at the end of 2010. We’ve been opened for as close as three years.
Tell us more about the design of OTEL Lobby.
M: I like monochromatic and earthy colours. You can see a hint of teal colour in the restaurant that represents the colour of the sea. I’m also pretty obsessive about strong lines and the flow of the design.
When we designed OTEL Lobby, we designed it as to when guests sit everywhere, they can still see a lot of corners in the restaurants.
I can say that the design is a little bit rustic mixed with exciting designs from a lot of designers. We just pick up all these ideas and inspirations when we go traveling.
Favourite food and drinks from OTEL Lobby?
M: If I’m in a mood of serious eating at OTEL Lobby, I will start in a bar and I would order a cocktail of my favourite. I’m a classic cocktail kind of person. Two of my favourite drinks are Negroni and the Old-Fashioned.
We have this dish that falls in to the category of Appetizer, we called it the Duck Buns. It’s actually a small sandwich filled with crispy duck that have been cooked for a long multiple time; marinated, steamed, and fried that duck. It went through a lot of process, so it’s special to me. I would order that while waiting for a table.
Soon as I’m seated, I would start with a salad. Depends on the mood, but I’m crazy about our slow-cooked salmon paired with a glass of white wine.
I will finish my dinner with a coconut sorbet. We like to create our own ice cream and sorbet. If it’s not too late I’m going to order a cup of coffee and cookies.
What are the three things you can’t live without?
M: At home, I will have everything that I need. But if I’m traveling I won’t go without my running shoes, facial cream by Chanel and yoga pants.
What are your favourite items from Shopdeca?
M: MISCHA handbags and home furnishing design by Toi Moi.
Maya is wearing her Mischa Jet Set Tote
Shop our TOIMOI Collection here.
Future plans for OTEL Lobby?
M: We’ve been having OTEL Lobby for 3 years. We decided that it’s time to branch out. We’re looking somewhere around that other part of South Jakarta. We are thinking to open it just a small place to cater the earlybird or people who likes to have their breakfast all day. So that might be our next project, hopefully we can open our door to customer by the end of first semester next year.
What defines a Power Woman?
M: There are a lot of power women amongst us. But I think what define a power woman is a woman who has a will of their own, woman who is fearless, have a lot of belief in things they’re doing and decisions in life.
Most of women are power woman, regardless what place they’re in, what position or business that they have.
If you could have lunch with any power woman in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?
M: Right now if I have to pick, it’s going to be Julia Child. I really want to cook together with her. She was a quirky one. I can imagine us having wine together in the afternoon.
Anything else you want to share to Shopdeca community?
M: I’m really grateful to be chosen as one of the Power Women by Shopdeca and Mischa. All I can say to all the women out there is to believe in what you do and in yourself and let everything else do it’s magic.
“For me in general, traveling is something that you buy that makes you richer.”
Hans Danial Subianto
Author of http://eatandtreats.blogspot.com
Since 2012, Hans has been dishing, documenting and publicly publishing his love for food. His food photography has brought him up to the social blogging scene where eatandtreats is now one of the leading food and travel blogs in Jakarta. What started out as a hobby is now a passion, garnering over 1 million hits on his blog in just 1.5 years.
This platform enables him to meet new people and share the love with those of similar interest in food, travel and photography. This eclectic blogger is only at the tip of the iceberg and it only gets better from here!
We invited Hans to curate with us and pick out his favourite products from Shopdeca.
Check out our behind the scenes video and interview with Hans below!
What do you love about your job being a food & travel blogger?
H: That I can express myself doing what I love and have passion for, the advantages I take as a bonus and blessing: make friends with people from different circle or not, material advantages, traveling. And I'm so grateful that it's the blog where I can spill everything that I want and I won't change just because people are reading it, because when you change, that's actually your downside.
When did you realize you had a passion for food blogging?
H: Since High School, I have the passion to explore new places to eat and hang out. I also like to capture what I eat, but I don’t really know what the pictures are for. Just capturing, but not much uploading. But how I got inspired to blog about my food was I was an intern in a magazine. During the last month there, they were discussing about food issue. They were talking about those food-related fields, like; food stylist, food photographer, and food blogger. That was when I knew the word FOOD BLOGGING. It naturally struck me that this is what I want to do because I have all these passion and pictures, all this time I just need a medium, and now I found it.
How would you describe your job? What does it mean to you?
H: I honestly still don't consider this a job, it seems like one because I am currently finishing my thesis, maybe in the future I will (two or three months are still "the future" LOL), but currently, this means the world, I truly consider my blog as the platform and doors to open chances and through out the year I have been very lucky with the chances, well, still God is the big role in everything, so I happen to think that this blogging thing is what I meant to do and I love that I've been constantly honest and passionate about doing it, photography and eating, who wouldn't say no LOL!
How would you describe your lifestyle?
H: I think in terms of fashion, I am preppy and luxurious. Oh wow that sounds so arrogant! Haha. One more, I also love classic things.
What are your 3 favourite items for Shopdeca?
H: Gladys Angelina Wooden Creations
Nixon Watches
Lampu Runa
What is something about yourself no one would ever expect?
H: I don’t know if people would notice this, but I am a very intense person.
What are your upcoming projects?
H: So many actually, planning to write my own book, opening two businesses: one in fashion and one in F&B, and opening my first online shop in visual art :).
Head on over to shop Hans' selection —->http://www.shopdeca.com/sg/curators/hans-danial.html
Next up in The Curators Project is Jakarta’s talented photographer and entrepreneur, Benny Lim.
Capturing precious memories through his camera lens, Benny always surrounds himself with picture perfect moments. A family man with a son, Benny’s passion for photography lies in the capturing of people’s best moments in life, making him one of the most sought after photographers in Jakarta.
Not only does he have an eye for picturesque moments - he also has entrepreneurial vision. This wedding and family photographer of @Nominapics and @Juniapics also has his own lifestyle online business called @Nijistore, which started in January 2014.
Check out behind the scenes with Benny Lim, while we invited him for an interview and photo shoot;
When did you realize you wanted to be a photographer and business owner?
B: I realized that I wanted to be a photographer at the end of 2009. I recognized the fact that no matter how many wedding photographer there is in Indonesia, people will still look for one. The key is you have to be a different kind of wedding photographer to get hired.
As for having my own business, I already thought of it around June 2010. I was in a printing company then, and one day it struck me that I have to do something different. I immediately give myself a try, a little bit hasty action. But yeah, here I am.
When did you know you had a passion for wedding photography?
B: I used to have this habit to take pictures of quirky things around me. Then, during that end of June 2009, I realized that I have this calling to capture people’s best moments. One of it is, of course, wedding.
Giving my best to capture their precious moment in life so they can remember it for a lifetime. That is my passion.
Benny is wearing: Ludger Top 88 (Black), Cheap Monday Men Tight Jeans (Poly Rinse), and Nike Men Rabona
Mister Mr. X SN Cross Camp Hat (Black)
How would you describe your lifestyle?
B: Easygoing and relax.
And from professional point-of-view, I enjoy art. This gives me the ability to express myself just the way I am and to go beyond whatever trend that had existed.
Do you travel a lot?
B: I do a lot of traveling because of my work. Sometimes I like to extend the days when I travel, just to go around and explore new things.
What are you inspired by?
B: What inspires me is not based on “who” and “what”, but whatever things we are doing right now and also our surroundings. Anything around us can be our inspiration!
For example is what I did for #handsinframe. It started just for fun when I wanted to share the stories about my daily life with my hands inside of the picture. But who knows? It becomes a trend of taking pictures in Instagram now.
What attracts you first; design or feature?
B: It has to be the design, but feature is also important for me. No point if it has great design but is useless.
Benny is wearing: Apparel After Dark Crew Tshirt (White), Thorocraft Porter Slate Coated Leather Suede Wool Shoes (Slate)
AIAIAI Tracks Headphone Kitsune w/mic
What are your favourite 3 items from Shopdeca.com?
B: So many interesting stuff at Shopdeca! If I have to pick three, it would be: Herschel bags, Void watches, and Nike Shoes.
Herschel Ravine Duffle Poly Bag (Black)
Void Watch V03D-GOBLBL (Gold/Black)
Nike Men Rabona (Black)
What is something about you no one would ever expect?
B: A lot of people feel surprised when I say I’m a family man blessed with a 10-month-old son, Jovan. People would think that I’m too young for that.
But yeah, I really love my family life.
Benny is wearing: Cheap Monday Torex Shirt (Remake Red)
Favourite thing about your job?
B: For me, photography is not only about taking good quality pictures, but it also means forcing your-self to go out there and talk to people. Every time I see new clients, I get to have different conversations.
This is one of my favourite aspects in my work, because I’m not the kind of people who can communicate well with people, but I really have to do it in order to succeed in my job.
And by being an entrepreneur, I learn to think outside of myself. I need to think about the welfare of my team and how to treasure them. It really challenges me every day.
What are your upcoming projects?
B: We are planning to open up a different kind of photo studio. It is still top secret!
As for social media projects, we are planning to take #handsinframe seriously since more and more brands are coming to collaborate with us.
We invited Benny to curate with us and pick out his favourite items available on Shopdeca.com - and also got the low down on what he’s been up to as of late!
Head on over to shop Benny’s selection —->http://www.shopdeca.com/curators/benny-lim.html
