They say that the choices people make today are reflections of childhood experiences. For chefs, the home kitchen can be the influential beginning of a flourishing culinary career. While other chefs start in the kitchen by chance, there are some who feel a sense of belonging and confidence in the kitchen from early on.
For Tony Eka Saputra, the newly appointed executive chef at Padma Resort Ubud, his journey began in the coastal town of Cilacap, Central Java. Living so close to the sea, his family would source the freshest seafood straight from the boat and into the kitchen of their seafood restaurant—a family-owned business that his grandfather started and is now run by his father.
“Since I was a child, I’ve already knew through the family business that with the freshest ingredients, we can serve the best possible dishes for our customers. It is absolutely true! My grandfather started our Chinese and Seafood restaurant, and now my father is running the business. We are on the coast so normally we have fish, prawn, lobsters available, always the freshest.”
This is a philosophy he learned in childhood that has anchored his career, noting that fresh ingredients are absolutely essential to his style of cooking.
Inspired by the outlook and skills of his grandfather, Chef Tony pursued his culinary career back in 2000, enrolling in the University of Culinary, Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata Bandung where he took up Food Production Management. In this course, he was immediately exposed to the international scene through an apprenticeship in Singapore’s Chinatown.
Right after graduation, he landed his first kitchen job in 2004 at the Grand Hyatt Dubai where he experienced working with different nationalities and was exposed to different cultures and cuisines.
After 6 years, he traveled to London to work at the two Michelin Star restaurant, Le Gavroche—a classical French restaurant. This experience truly expanded his culinary repertoire, different from his experiences in Dubai and Asia. It also opened up his views on food sources.
“In a Michelin-starred restaurant, you see a different way of cooking. You respect the ingredients, and you see that there’s more to the story of each ingredient. The season, the preservation, how they catch it—it’s telling you a story.”
After his stint in Le Gavroche, he moved back to Dubai to work at the newly-opened restaurant Ossiano with Chef Santi Santamaria, the Michelin-starred Barcelona-born chef and one of the leading figures in Catalan cuisine. There he spent three years before moving to Maldives, where he once again had experience living by the coast. He then moved to Grand Hyatt Bali in 2013, and two years later he moved to West Java to the Hilton Bandung where he spent 6 years.
Then, he moved to The Dharmawangsa in Jakarta where he spent 4 years before his recent appointment to Bali at the prestigious Padma Resort Ubud.
With all his experience from all over the world, he describes his distinct style of cooking as straightforward. As a big fan of European and classical cooking, he admits that he had to learn plenty of Indonesian dishes upon returning home. But more importantly, he continues to discover numerous herbs and spices from all over the archipelago.
“When I returned to Indonesia, I had to learn plenty of Indonesian dishes and flavors. Because when you talk about food—it’s not only the ingredients itself but you need to involve the season, nature, and culture.”
“Now I am focusing on that—on Indonesian food. I love Indonesian food now the most because I would say that there are thousands of herbs and spices, and I probably don’t even know half of.”
To him, working with the freshest ingredients matched with the season, nature, and culture, and a whole lot of love and passion on the plate is most important.
Chef Tony has come a long way from his humble beginning in the small coastal town of Cilacap. Now, he is leading a team, overseeing the culinary direction of three venues at Padma Resort Ubud: Payangan for an all-day lounge, The Pool Café and Bar for the Mediterranean vibe, and The Puhu Restaurant serving food from Indonesia, Asia and the West.
He finds himself present and confident in the kitchen, with every “sweat, smell, cut, burn—that’s the chef,” he shares with conviction.
“When you are gripped and hands-on with cooking, that is something that builds you to another level of confidence.”
His recollection of his family, gathering at the dinner table and spending long hours in deep conversation about food, gives him a sense of belonging in what he does. He knows very well how food is an essential part of bringing people together, and he hopes that guests at Padma Resort Ubud feel exactly at home when at the dining table.
