Cover Executive chef Natasya Soetantyo
Executive chef Natasya Soetantyo
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The culinary mind behind Blue Waves, Natasya Soetantyo’s passion for Indonesian cuisine is the driving force behind the group’s new Joo Chiat venture
At just 31 years of age, Natasya Soetantyo has already accumulated a lifetime of culinary knowledge–and plenty of gastronomic experience–under her belt. Together with her brother, Mark, Blue Waves CEO, the young executive chef is part of the power duo behind the group’s many popular hit brands, including Salt & Palm in Singapore and Sydney, Rumours Beach Club, Kota88 and the ever-popular Baristart Coffee.
But while the versatile chef creates menus and oversees kitchen operations for Blue Waves’ entire repertoire of F&B businesses, it’s obvious that her first true love is her native Indonesian cuisine, which features heavily in several of the Blue Waves brands, including the latest Salt & Palm outlet in Joo Chiat.
Born to a family with a long history in the food industry, Soetantyo, who was raised in Jakarta and Bali, has a deep know-how and unbridled passion for Indonesian food and culinary styles. Soetantyo’s family ran several restaurants across Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia, and her grandparents on both sides also had their own food businesses, including bakeries and a premium food catering service.
“Growing up in a family of chefs and restaurateurs, many of my fondest childhood memories revolve around food,” Soetantyo says. From playing with bread dough in her grandmother’s bakery, to the tradition of exchanging food-related gifts with family members, Soetantyo learned from a young age the importance of using food to express one’s love for others. The death of her eldest brother in 2013 was also instrumental in the realisation of her culinary dreams. “He was really into cooking and was trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu Sydney…Involving myself in the culinary arts is also a way for me to keep his memories and dreams alive,” she explains.
Read more: Mark Soetantyo, the Man at Helm Behind Rumours Beach Club on Transformation and Sustainability
Above Mark and Natasya Soetantyo
Mark and Natasya Soetantyo
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And yet, the decision to embark on a career centred on food was not always so clear cut for the Le Cordon Bleu graduate. After moving to Sydney, Australia, at the age of 17, Soetantyo pursued and attained a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts and a Master’s degree in Sustainability. Despite these achievements, she eventually decided to head back to the kitchen, where her roots are.
“Compared to the visual arts, I see culinary arts as an equally creative but more approachable way to connect with people around me,” she says.
With most of her culinary training and kitchen experience in French and other Western cuisines, Soetantyo decided to delve deep into the world of Indonesian cooking by exploring its history and art, and seeking out traditional recipes from family members, including those left behind by her late grandmother. "I love Indonesian cuisine as there is so much diversity, culture, and background associated with the dishes. I feel like it’s still very underrated and underappreciated compared to other cuisines globally," she says.
“Exploring Indonesian cuisine also means that I am exploring my identity and a sense of belonging,” she explains, adding that she finds it funny how her move to Australia had served as a sort of catalyst in driving her interest towards the cuisine. To Soetantyo, Indonesian food is not just about flavour. Its charm, she says, lies in the history of each individual dish, and the spiritual meanings behind them. “My dream is to share how interesting Indonesian cuisine is, not only in terms of flavour but also from the perspective of food history and culture,” she says.
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Salt & Palm interior
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One look at Salt & Palm’s Singapore menu and it becomes obvious that Soetantyo has done a great job of translating that dream into reality. Innovative and well-thought-out, each dish offers a refreshing take on familiar traditional Indonesian flavours.
Among her personal favourites are the fried quinoa, which replaces the rice in nasi goreng with the fluffy protein- and fibre-rich grain; the prawn bisque pasta; and the mushroom rendang, which she says tastes better than regular beef rendang. Over in Sydney, the menu–with dishes such as the Australian beef rendang truffle pie, black sticky rice & yoghurt and coconut coffee panna cotta–tells a similar story, but with an Australian flair.
The success of the first Salt & Palm restaurant in Sydney speaks for itself, and after some hard lessons learnt during the pandemic, Soetantyo says she’s now ready to not only bring her unique interpretation of Indonesian food to Singapore, but to also work with Mark to share their family’s love of food with others. “Opening Salt & Palm in Singapore is a collaborative effort between me and Mark. I feel like it’s the right time for us to actively create something together.” Today, Soetantyo shuttles back and forth between Singapore and Sydney to further her humble dream of bringing Indonesia’s storied cuisine to the world.
Want to explore the diversity of Indonesia’s varied cuisine? Here are 5 Indonesian dishes to try, as recommended by Blue Waves executive chef Natasya Soetantyo:
- Ketoprak, a Jakarta-style salad with a savoury peanut dressing consisting of rice cakes, vermicelli, beansprouts, and cucumbers. “Peanut sauce is a common ingredient for many Indonesian foods throughout different regions and this one is my favourite,” Soetantyo says.
- Also a peanut sauce-based dish, Tipat cantok from Bali.
- Mie celor, a creamy prawn noodle dish from Palembang. “It’s like the Indonesian answer to carbonara pasta,” she muses.
- Babi genyol or be genyol, which is similar to babi guling, but with the specific use of pork belly. “I think many people know about Balinese babi guling but not so much about this other version.”
- Bebek goreng bumbu hitam. “Bumbu Hitam or ‘black paste’ is a specialty sambal or paste from Madura island. Although it looks black, it doesn’t taste burnt at all,” she says.
