Private Chef at Chandra Bali Villas

Meet Our Private Chefs – Made and Ade – Team Yum!

One of the great features of villa living is the private chef service. You choose the dishes you like, and Team Yum appears in your villa kitchen with a basket of the freshest produce and gets busy. I asked Made and Ade, the Chandra kitchen duo (Team Yum!) to talk about why they like working in a villa environment rather than a hotel or restaurant.

So Made, how did you get started in the kitchen?

My big brother was already a chef, so he got me started with an apprenticeship at the Grand Mirage Hotel here in Bali. I had my first taste of western food there and was hooked.

So you like Western Food, any favorites or recommendations here in Seminyak?

Yes, I can’t go past great beef tenderloin, served Medium rare. If I’m eating out in Seminyak we are really spoilt for choice, but Sarong, Sardine and La Lucciola will always deliver a very satisfying meal.

And what about you Ade?

I like a good piece of beef too, but actually I’m most happy with a good Indonesian Chicken Curry. Warung 45 here in Seminyak serves up delicious Indonesian classics at great prices and is my absolute favorite restaurant.

So with so many great restaurants around Seminyak, what’s the advantage of having you guys cook in the villa?

That’s easy! You don’t have to go out. It’s really that simple. Sometimes guests absolutely want to go out and experience the very vibrant restaurant scene in Seminyak, but often they just want to stay in. The villas are beautiful with great tables for sitting around with family and friends. And we (the Chandra staff) get to know the preferences and can offer a better and more personal service to our guests. We can offer a great selection of dishes both Western and Indonesian and serve them up as you like. Fancy a break before the next course? No problem. Want everything served family style? Can. Individual plates? Coming right up. We’re flexible, fast and able to make the meal exactly what you want. (And you don’t have to try to find a taxi to get home when you’re finished!)

Sounds great. Tell us some of the dishes that Chandra guests have loved.

Made makes a mean Beef Rendang and a very good chicken curry. Guests often want to try the Balinese classic Pepis Ikan; a fish fillet rolled in banana leaves and sambal and steamed. Last Christmas we also cooked quite a few suckling pigs and did ALOT of BBQing, including our very tasty pork ribs.

Yummy! So why you guys are cooking at Chandra rather than in a restaurant or hotel?

That’s an easy question. Cooking in a villa allows us to have more contact with the whole process, from designing menus, to shopping, preparation and cooking. In hotels and restaurants you can be quite disconnected from some of those steps and often the finished dish is not your own. Here at Chandra, we can interact with the guests, make sure the dish is what they are hoping for and see their satisfied faces when they’ve finished it. Villas are more private and intimate and offer a real family style environment for both staff and guests.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes, we really love to do cooking classes. Often guests are intrigued by the Balinese flavors and keen to add a dish or two to their home cooking repertoire so we are happy to give classes, again at the guests convenience in their own villa. A firm favorite is dadar gulang, the Balinese pandan and coconut pancake. Simple and delicious.