What does a Coach lamb chop or pizza slice taste like? Diners in Indonesia are about to find out since the company is going into the restaurant business.
On Friday, the New York-based brand opened the Coach Restaurant and Coach Coffee Shop at Grand Indonesia Mall in Jakarta, marking its entry into the hospitality arena.
The shop is the first of a series of dining experiences the brand will unveil this year and beyond, Coach said, and indicates its mission to connect consumers with experiences in addition to just products.
The restaurant and coffee shop were designed by Coach’s creative director Stuart Vevers in partnership with William Sofield, designer and president of Studio Sofield. The restaurant reimagines a classic New York steakhouse and features menu covers, napkin cuffs, placemats and waitstaff aprons crafted from glove-tanned leather, and plates that feature floral detailing inspired by Coach collections. The menu includes standard New York steakhouse items such as strip steak, lamb chops, shrimp cocktail, wedge salad and a classic martini.
The space features a mix of natural and industrial materials including bronze mirror walls, stainless and blackened steel staircases, white-and-gray poured terrazzo floors and tropical wall panel wood louvers that nod to the restaurant’s Southeast Asia location. But New York City references are still evident with bistro-style leather booths as well as a true-to-size taxicab installation embedded in the ceiling. Building on the taxi motif, the space also incorporates circular hubcap walls along with “Taxicab Yellow” pantone color that is used throughout the space.
“The opening of our Coach Restaurant marks an extraordinary moment for Coach,” said Todd Kahn, chief executive officer and brand president of Coach. “It marks not only our fullest expression of hospitality to date, but also shows our intention to create immersive experiences for our customers. The experience we designed for Grand Indonesia is inspired by our hometown, New York City, and the spirit that drives us today at Coach in everything we do. We can’t wait for our customers to sit down with their friends and family and have a meal with us — and to continue to bring these types of experiences to life for our customers all over the world.”
Located next to the restaurant is the Coach Coffee Shop, a replica of a classic New York corner store with city streetscape wallpaper patterns and a menu featuring typical diner food such as pizza and soft serve ice cream. The shop also marks the debut of a new mascot, Lil Miss Jo, a coffee cup inspired by vintage New York diner imagery, Coach said.
“The Coach Restaurant was a truly exciting creative opportunity and marks a special moment in our history — one that champions the reimagination of our heritage and pushes the boundaries of what a fashion house can be through experiences that delight all five senses,” Vevers said. “It was really fun working with William Sofield to explore the visual language of Coach in a new immersive way. We were inspired by the spirit of our hometown of New York with its swagger and eclectic energy, as well as a playfulness that’s inherent to Coach. My vision was to create an atmosphere that feels imaginative and offbeat but also warm and inviting.”
The company said it picked Jakarta to introduce the concept because Southeast Asia represents a large and growing market for the brand, particularly with a young consumer.
This move into hospitality builds on the success of the brand’s Coach Play concept — a global series of immersive and localized pop-ups. These shops will continue to roll out across multiple locations and will include expressions of the Coach Coffee Shop. Case in point, one opened in Tokyo on Friday and more are planned for other locations in Japan and Malaysia as well as Australia this spring.
