855: Ayesha Nurdjaja on the Line: Burns, Swollen Knuckles, and Stolen Kunz Spoons

Ayesha Nurdjaja (0:08)

I think my food is deceptively simple, right? Because when you look at a dip, you're like, okay, it's hummus, we've all had hummus. And when I first opened, the hummus wasn't the top seller, and I was like, this is wild. So I renamed it Not Your Average Hummus.

Zola Gregory (0:19)

Yeah.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (0:19)

And because it's not, it's whippy, there's a lightness to it. I have these secret layers of flavor.

Matt Rodbard (0:27)

This is TASTE. I'm your host, Matt Rodbard.

Ayesha Nurdjaja grew up in Gravesend, Brooklyn, with an Indonesian father, Italian mother, and a grandmother who walked her to Sahadi's on Atlantic Avenue. After years in Italian kitchens like Felidia, she talked her bosses into a Middle Eastern New Year's Eve menu that became the wildly popular Shuka and later Shukette. On this episode, we talk about her debut cookbook, Mediterranean All the Way, a legendary onion dip, and Ayesha's stolen spoons collection. Also on the show, I catch up with my friend Zola Gregory to talk about The Pasta Box, a brand new recipe deck from us here at TASTE. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Ayesha Nurdjaja, welcome to This Is TASTE. This is a long time coming. How are you?

Ayesha Nurdjaja (1:26)

I am so excited. I feel like I've been invited to a presidential dinner. A good president. But this is, yeah, I'm so excited to be here and to talk to you.

Matt Rodbard (1:34)

We're giving state dinner at This Is TASTE. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Well, so much to cover. Huge fan of your restaurants. So I know you mostly threw your restaurants, we don't really know each other personally.

But we're also gonna talk about your cookbook, Mediterranean All the Way, which is beautiful. I'm a huge fan of it. It's out very soon. I like to ask all chefs while in the chair, when you're not working at one of your two restaurants, where have you been dining out in New York recently?

Ayesha Nurdjaja (2:04)

Where have I been? That's a good question. I have been a fan of Bacchimera.

Matt Rodbard (2:09)

Yeah.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (2:09)

And I don't know if you wanna call it a dining scene, because to be honest with you, the food is great, but it's the martinis and the bartenders and those tuxedos, which just put me over the edge.

Matt Rodbard (2:19)

I'm a huge fan of the food. I think the menu structure is very coat, but maybe more Spanish and Korean, and agree the service is cool.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (2:28)

Yeah. I just love that.

I'm trying to find another word for small plates, because when people describe my food that way, I want to shoot them in the toe, you know? The food, the toe.

Because you're still walking, you're not gonna get hurt. You might wobble, but you'll see. Right, it's not malicious. I would say that it's a little snacking while you're eating. And there's something about, you know, when you're in a place that makes you feel debonair, like I'm about that. And I think that dining room and, you know, Simon and his team just do an amazing job. Where else? I'm at Michael's of Brooklyn very often. I don't know if you know about that place.

Matt Rodbard (3:00)

I don't, tell me about it.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:01)

It's like an old school red sauce joint that's been open for like 50 years. They have actually a sauce like on the market, but they have like one of those heavy menus, like they can make parm, marsala, frangés, all the good, but it's consistently delicious. I probably don't even need to look at a menu. I've probably memorized it by now. Great cocktails and it's like 10 minutes from my house.

Matt Rodbard (3:22)

You live in South Brooklyn, Graves End?

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:23)

I do, yeah, I live in Graves End.

Matt Rodbard (3:24)

Yeah.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:25)

Where else did I live? Oh, Bartolo?

Matt Rodbard (3:28)

Yeah.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:29)

Wowa Weewa.

Matt Rodbard (3:30)

Wowa, yeah.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:31)

I mean, I never like post from restaurants because I feel like social media is, I mean, of course people get to know me on it, but like I like my own time. And I like, I take pictures of food that I like for myself, but I'm not like posting it. But I did post while I was at the bar because I was like, what?

Matt Rodbard (3:46)

You had the butter, the butter batons.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:48)

Crazy.

Matt Rodbard (3:49)

I love that dish.

Ayesha Nurdjaja (3:50)

With the anchovies?

Matt Rodbard (3:51)

Exactly, anchovies, butter batons. Yes.