I get so many inquiries about the “mystery” chef behind Mission Savvy’s Organic Food To-Go menu - all vegan, gluten-free and raw gourmet collection of goodess. Is he local, does he cater, does he teach, what on earth is coconut ceviche and WHERE IS HE?
Well today I am granting myself full disclosure privileges to discuss chef Indra Riswanto (oooooops there’s his name!!!!), a natural culinary artist who strolls in after hours plugged into music to sprout, soak, marinade, blend and julienne the boringness out of the average looking edible plant – the end result being beautiful, almost incomprehensible meals to the average American. He’s been known to ride up to the store on his bike, casually mix in with my customers and never mention that he is the chef, escaping unrecognized.
Well here’s what I know about Indra: he grew up in a small town in North Sumatra, Indonesia, the oldest in a family of six, was raised on fresh mango, pineapple, cocoa, jackfruit and papaya while I was simultaneously raised in the U.S. on Snickers, Fritos, pizza and instant mashed potatoes.
Fruit Salad creation at the Jungle Inn
Indonesia’s culture is naturally appreciative of a healthy diet and his career began 3 hours down a beat-up road in a village called Bukit Lawang – an area that caters to tourists traveling to see the endangered orangutan up and close.
When not occupied with whipping up the largest (seriously gargantuan) fruit salad you have ever seen in your life, he part-timed in the forest guiding tourists through the jungle searching for gibbons, macaques, hornbills, tigers and of course the orangutan.
In 2004 Indra left the jungle for the U.S. and worked for a number of high end restaurants as well as casual cafes. Several year in he decided to further his qualification as a chef and entered California’s Living Light Institute in 2009 – the leading institution for Raw and Living Food Culinary Arts.
A cross country trip following graduation with a journal capturing inspirations from some of the best raw vegan cafes in American led Indra to the mountains of West Virginia where he opened his own personal chef business in partnership with local holistic nutrition company, Eats of Eden.
And this is where I snatched him up for Mission Savvy!!! What a better compliment to our ethical lifestyle concept then healthy food, right?
So that’s our amazing Indra in a nutshell. Fan clubs seeking an in-the-flesh run in should check Hale St.’s alley at around 10pm on Wednesday nights 
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