Mika
Commis Chef
Greetings everyone, my name is Mika. I’m originally from Bandung and I’m a commis chef here in Jungchan Dining.
I’m a very simple guy. When I finished my school, at that time, I actually hadn’t graduated yet but my school was finished already. So first, I got approached by Chef Muljadi (Chef Jungchan and Stela’s friend), and said Jungchan Dining was looking for a daily worker.
So Chef Muljadi asked if I could help and I straightly answered “yes of course, I can help.” And at that time, Jungchan Dining was also hiring as well. So why not? Let’s give it a shot!
And here I am, I have been working here for almost nine months. It’s been a good time being here.
✽
When did you realize you wanted to cook seriously?
When I entered the university, because what I feel, as long as there's human living on earth, they need to eat. And of course, if you want to eat, you need to know how to cook. So as long as there are people on this earth, there has to be food to be served.
How did school and real kitchen life feel different to you?
One thing I noticed was actually there are a lot of people who don’t go to culinary school but they do have a career in the culinary world. But for me, school is about foundation. One thing I learned is in real kitchen, I learn about the food itself (especially the flavour). Like how to create a dish, how to build a flavour. In school, we learn more about technical, like how to cut and the cooking method.
What kind of energy do you want to bring to the team?
Everywhere I go, I always try to bring joy and laugh as much as I can. Because I realized we have been through hard times and I always try to cheer for our team. They consider me like a little comedian.
What has surprised you the most since joining the team?
What surprised me the most is even in the small team, we could always accomplish everything, we could beat everything, even though we're a small team.
What is one thing you are proud of learning so far?
I’m proud of learning how to respect the ingredients. Like respecting the vegetables, meats or even a very small thing such as salt.
Who or what helps you grow the most at work?
Of course, everybody here that helps me grow a lot like now. Everyone here gives me room to grow a lot actually.
Where do you hope this path takes you next?
I hope this path will take me to find out who I really am, because what I learned from this restaurant is all about you. At the end, it’s about you, finding who you are and I hope next, I will know who I am.
Message from Mika:
What I love from working here is we hang out a lot, we drink a lot. It’s very fun to be a part of the team, so I’m very grateful for being here. I’m very excited to see how Jungchan in the future and be part of growing together with this restaurant. LET’S GOOO!
✽