Restaurants Are a Life Unto Their Own for Shukette’s Ayesha Nurdjaja

Resy: Let’s start with where you are now. What’s your current position, and how long have you been there?  

Ayesha Nurdjaja: I am the executive chef and partner of Shuka and Shukette. This is my 10th year with The Bowery Group (Cookshop, Rosie’s, Vic’s). Do I get a gift?

How long have you been working in restaurants? Where did you first start out?  

I have been cooking for almost 20 years. I started as an extern at Felidia and worked my way up to sous chef. Then I worked my way through some of the best restaurants in the city, including Bar Artisanal, Picholine, and A Voce. By the time I became the executive chef at Hundred Acres, my mission was to change the concept to Mediterranean cuisine, but I wanted to set sail further east than the concepts that were popular at that time. Eventually I convinced the owners — who are now my partners — to let me change the concept to Middle Eastern cuisine, and Shuka was born. Four years later, we opened up Shukette.

What people or restaurants inspired you when you were starting out? Are there institutions that you look to when you think of what you want to build?  

My parents are my original inspiration. Growing up, my home was always filled with great food. It wasn’t until I moved out that it occurred to me that I might have to cook. I remember watching Lidia Bastianich on television and being mesmerized by her grandma hands. I started cooking from her shows and loved it enough that it led me to culinary school and to where I am today.

What is important for you in crafting a menu and experience that people want to return for? 

Being genuine. Cooking food that you want to eat. Creating a menu that is craveable and constantly evolving is important to me.

What keeps you inspired in the work and the food? How do you stay interested and keep your creativity? 

Travel is the way I like to jolt my creativity. I love visiting new places and immersing myself in the culture. Seeing where locals eat and getting to cook with them. I collect cookbooks and sometimes read them like novels or skim through and look for photos. People also inspire me to keep working with food. I love to create, mentor, and cook.

How do you balance the idea of being a special occasion destination versus being a place that people feel they can come to for comfort? 

I don’t aim to be a special occasion destination. I build places that people can feel welcome at everyday. The vibe is fun and energetic, the menu has something for everyone, the food is meant for sharing, the service is welcoming. When I created Shukette, I said I wanted to blur the lines between the front and back of the house, and the open kitchen there really helps with that. I want people to feel like they are coming to eat with me at my home.

Where do you go for a comforting meal? What’s your special occasion destination? Where have you been excited to go out to when you have time to dine out? 

I like to try new places to stay on top of what’s happening in the industry. But if I’m going out just to have a good time, I prefer a steakhouse. Here I know exactly what I’m going to get. I’m not looking to be wowed, I just want the classics — a Caesar salad, a ribeye, a gin martini … well, probably more than one martini.

How does community, whether in the neighborhood, the industry, or otherwise, play into the success of a restaurant? How has community been a part of your experience? 

Community is everything. Especially when you are a neighborhood restaurant. It’s those people that help keep you going and inspire you to create new dishes. They become part of the fabric of your restaurant. You see them on their way to the store or walking their dogs; sometimes, you even become friends with them. So, there’s the community of people that are connected to the restaurants. And then there is my industry community, which is also very important to me. They are there to bounce ideas off of, and to ask advice. The collective experience from my industry friends brings invaluable insight.

With so many challenges in the industry right now, many chefs are finding other career paths. What keeps you working in restaurants? What keeps you excited about it?

You have to be a little bent to be in this industry. For me, it’s really the instant gratification of creating food that people love. It’s the camaraderie in the kitchen between my cooks and me. The restaurant is a life unto its own; it is a living breathing object and needs love and care and gives it back. I always say that, as a chef, we are both a teacher and a student.

What are you working on right now that has you excited? What are you focused on?

Building an empire. My first cookbook is coming out in May of 2026, and I am very excited to show the world how to make Middle Eastern cooking approachable through my lens. I recently debuted as the newest Titan on “Bobby’s Triple Threat” [on the Food Network]. You can check me out on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. And who knows? Maybe another restaurant is in the future, too.

Clay Williams is a Brooklyn-based photographer whose work takes him across the country and beyond, documenting stories of food, culture, and community. Follow him at @ultraclay.