Innovative Indonesian Street Food in the Bay: Meet D'Grobak
We're excited to share the power duo behind D'Grobak (read as 'The GrowBuck'), a small food business here in the Bay Area making contemporary Indonesian street food.
Meet Yohanes and Christna!
Yohanes was born and raised in West Borneo (Pontianak city), Indonesia. After graduating from culinary school, he moved to the U.S. and pursued his culinary passions and career. His love of Japanese food kick started his career, and he garnered over a decade of experience crafting exceptional sushi dishes.
Christna was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. Christna is the key social media coordinator for D’Grobak and is the person behind all the IG posts and stories, as well as your customer service representative. Christna has lots of experience in the hospitality industry, having helped her own mom with her small business back in Indonesia and after spending 12 years in the airline industry in Hong Kong.
Follow their journey: @dgrobak.bayarea
What inspired you to become a chef/food biz owner?
Bakso is one of our favorite Indonesian street foods that is difficult to find abroad, and especially here in the Bay Area. A few of you might know, but two of the longest running Indonesian restaurants in the Bay have recently closed their doors, making Indonesian treats even harder to find.
Our business started to really bloom right when the pandemic hit, but even then we stayed motivated to try to recreate the bakso that we both remember and love from our childhood in Indonesia. It took us some time and a lot of patience and recipe development, but we finally created a bakso recipe we both loved.
Why did you want to highlight the food you are creating?
Since we first started in May 2020, our goal has always been to bring innovative, Indonesian street food-inspired dishes to foodies in the Bay.
We take each and every step to make sure that our bakso lovers family has an enjoyable experience with our food. We believe that the value and quality of the food we serve should be nothing short of truly exceptional. So we take great care, and pour a lot of love and passion into every dish we make. Our customers' satisfaction is our utmost priority! We hope everybody can taste the love in our bowls of goodness!
What is your favorite dish? Is there a story behind it?
Our favorite dish is BAKSO.
Bakso, Indonesia's national street food, is a go-to dish sold from pushcarts to hungry students, midnight revelers and just about anybody who wants a satisfying snack any time of day.
Bakso is the type of meal that Indonesian people can enjoy as a meal or snacks. You can enjoy bakso anytime, either for breakfast or lunch or dinner.
Bakso is a popular meatball soup in Indonesia. Although Bakso is essentially street food, it can be found anywhere from outdoor eateries to elegant restaurants.
What does courage mean to you?
Stand up for your values & beliefs. It requires you to pull yourself out of your comfort zone for a cause, value, belief, or someone you care about. Courage also means for us to do the right thing each time so you can create a better world for yourself and those around you.
Where can we expect to see you in the next few years?
We hope to open our own restaurant in the next few years, and we will always continue to move forward with new ideas, improvements, and a dedication to providing the best customer experience possible.
Thank you Beatriz and Tuk Tuk Box team for giving us the opportunity to share about us.
Thank you so much Yohanes and Christna for sharing their story with us! Tuk Tuk Box is proud to exclusively feature Southeast Asian ingredients and include refugee, migrant, and generational stories in every box.
If you or someone you know wants to share their story with us, send us an email: hello@tuktukbox.com. Stay tuned for future stories and the newest products by subscribing to our email list serv.
