About our company

Julia’s Indonesian Kitchen is a family business headed by mother and daughter-in-law team Julia Suparman and Yusi Sasmitra.

About Julia

Julia was born in Jakarta and lived in Singapore for 30 years where she was a floral designer and avid home cook. Although not professionally trained, Julia cooked up ethnic delights for numerous house parties, church events and of course, for her family. The restaurant and catering business is a natural extension of her life—community, family and food. Above all, her cooking was an important link between her children and their culture. In 2002, Julia and her husband Rudy Tanumihardja moved to Seattle to be closer to their three adult children and two grandsons. She continued to cook for her family and for parties—all of which were well attended and we know why. In Seattle, Julia became an active member of the Indonesian community and enjoyed cooking for the large Indonesian student population in Seattle who were yearning for a taste of home. Through her gift of cooking Julia has also helped Indonesian students in the Seattle area raise funds for various activities, including the recent tsunami disaster that affected thousands of Indonesians. The restaurant and catering business is a natural extension of what she has been involved in all her life—community, family and food.

About Yusi

Yusi was born in Serang, a small town one hour west of Jakarta, into a family of merchants. Her parents own a provision store, so not surprisingly, entrepreneurial blood flows through her veins. Even as a
little girl, she knew she wanted to open her own food business. As the third of five daughters, Yusi spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking with her grandmother and learning how to cook traditional Indonesian dishes. Even as a little girl, she knew she wanted to open her own food business. Yusi came to Seattle in 1992 to study business administration at the University of Washington. She went on to complete an MBA at Seattle University and worked in the corporate world as project coordinator for two years. After Yusi and her husband Mars Tanumihardja had their first son in 2002, she decided to be a stay-at-home mom and put her ambitions on the backburner. After her second son was old enough, Yusi decided it was time to fulfill her dream and bought over a catering business. Yusi found the perfect partner in her mother-in-law Julia and hence Julia’s Indonesian Kitchen was born. The catering business has been such a huge success that both Yusi and Julia have decided to open their doors to share a unique family dine-in experience.