Sous Chef at The Stones, I Gusti Ngurah Asmara Putra is familiarly called by the name of Ngurah. He is a native Balinese who was born in Klungkung.  While he was a toddler, his mom were a cook in a locally owned restaurant. They used to carry him around while cooking. Ever since, his curiosity and fascination towards cooking has been growing. Therefore, after graduated from Senior High School, he continued to Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata (STP) in Nusa Dua, Bali majored in Food Production.

 

In his last term of College, he was really keen to explore different dishes from other countries. That was why he went to Singapore for job training in Four Season Hotel while learning about area of hot and cold kitchen. His desire to taste different type of dishes did not stop there. Soon after graduated, he worked in five different cruise ships for about 16 years. He is pursuing his career from a cook helper who’s in charge in helping buffet to become a Head Chef of hot kitchen.

 

Many years has passed and he got a lot of lesson to learn. But one that was really an eye opener for him was, Indonesia. Bali especially has extensive cooking ingredients that can be freshly harvested compared to other countries. Therefore, he decided to go back to Bali and joined one of Bali’s high-end beach club and restaurant, Ku De Ta as Chef de Partie. Within a year was promoted as Junior Sous Chef.  During which, he developed creative menu using Balinese ingredients. He also learned the tricks to create a waste free kitchen, for example processing Shrimp shells as garnish.

 

Now, as the Sous Chef at The Stones – Legian, Bali, he is in charge in one of the hotel restaurant Big Fish Bar & Grill. It serves finest quality, locally caught, and sustainable seafood, local Indonesian favorites and the finest steaks. Lemongrass and Seafood are his favorite ingredients to work with. His big vision is to eventually have a waste free kitchen using 100% Balinese ingredients. Currently, 70% of Seafood at Big Fish Bar & Grill are locally sourced.