Nadja Azzura Tohir still vividly remembers the first dish she sold. “It was a simple salmon steak that I made for my mother’s friend when I was in fifth grade in 2007,” she recalled with a smile. Simple as it was, the dish successfully planted the seeds of her culinary career; within the next year alone, she went from being a self-taught young cook scouring the web for food writer James Kenji López-Alt‘s recipes to an apprentice under famed chef and restaurateur William Wongso, all whilst establishing her eponymous project, Nadja’s Gourmet.
Founded alongside her siblings—Rafi, Azzahra and Tafarrel—Nadja’s Gourmet grew out of their shared time in the kitchen, recreating their mother’s recipes (“Who is a great cook!”). Over the years, the project went from a home-delivery catering business, a private dining service, to recently, opening their first brick-and-mortar with BODEJA, a quaint grab-and-go eatery on Kemang Selatan I Street where their late father used to teach them how to ride a bicycle.
“We’ve always wanted to open up a shop here. It feels right, being just a short distance away from our childhood home,” shared Tafarrel. “We want BODEJA to be like a neighbourhood storefront for Nadja’s Gourmet and become one of the hallmarks of Kemang, where we grew up.”
Taking inspiration from the bodegas and delis ubiquitous in New York, the shop offers a mix of pantry goods like Garlic Confit Butter spread, soft serve and hot meals crafted from recipes that are still deeply rooted in a sense of home. Dishes like Nadja’s Gourmet signature Veggie Lasagna—a classic interpretation of the Italian comfort food, layered with spinach and mushrooms—can be traced back to the four siblings’ dining table staples growing up. And like a home kitchen, they often come up with off-the-menu items that vary depending on available ingredients, such as the popular Roast Beef Sandwich with homemade focaccia, pickled onion and watercress.
“Our father taught us to always help our neighbours, so we source a lot of our ingredients from nearby small shops,” shared Nadja. “We also like to buy from farmers’ surpluses, to help them minimise losses from miscalculations.” That includes the strawberries for their Berry Pavlova, which Nadja macerated with sugar to balance the tanginess of the locally grown fruit, pairing well with the subtly sweet cream and meringue.
At first glance, the unglamorous roadside setup of BODEJA might seem like an odd contrast to its range of offerings, but it quickly becomes clear that the eatery feels right at home alongside the flower shops and occasional street food carts that dot the street. This sense of belonging extends to its visitors, and it’s not uncommon to see well-dressed diners casually perched on simple red stools in front of the shop, unbothered as they dig into their meal while watching the passing traffic—fully immersed in the peaceful thrum of the neighbourhood.
