The newest contender in the Bay Area’s frill-bedecked world of afternoon tea has all the accoutrements an Anglophile could ask for: dainty finger sandwiches, elegant three-tier cake stands piled high with fresh-baked cakes and pastries and, of course, actually good tea.
The only difference? At Kopi Bar and SanDai’s monthly Indonesian-inspired high tea series in Walnut Creek, finger sandwiches come spiced up with a hit of sambal. Scones and croissants are infused with pandan or rose syrup. And the tea itself comes sweetened with condensed milk by default, just like how you’d get it in Singapore or Malaysia.
The events are the brainchild of chef Nora Haron, and they’re very much in keeping with Haron’s overarching vision for Cali-Nusantara cuisine — food that draws on the flavors of the region encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In March of 2023, Haron and owner Amanda Toh Steckler opened Kopi Bar as an Indonesian-inspired coffee shop, specializing in croissants and other Western pastries that incorporate Nusantara flavors and ingredients.
![A three-tiered cake stand loaded with pastries and finger sandwiches.](https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/sandai-high-tea-crop.jpg)
Inspired by coffee culture in Bali, she also creates original drinks for the shop, like a coconut cappuccino and the “Kopi Avocado” — a blend of fresh avocado, coconut condensed milk and espresso. “It’s so, so good, and we sell so much of it,” Haron says.
Just a week after Kopi Bar’s launch, Haron and Toh Steckler opened SanDai, a full-fledged Nusantara Californian restaurant, right next door. It’s one of a handful of new spots in the East Bay serving modern, California-inflected interpretations of Indonesian, Singaporean and Malaysian food.