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For Spring 22, we’re platforming the next gen of cultural catalysts. From the worlds of fashion, music, art and food, our new fam of creatives are challenging the norms, breaking down boundaries and owning their originality.

Dubbed ‘the most exciting Indonesian supper club in London’ by The Face, Rahel Stephanie’s Spoons is headed for greatness. What began in 2019 from a desire to share good food with friends, has turned into a hugely successful business.

Staying true to her Indonesian roots, dishes are classic with a touch of experimentation, from growing her own ingredients to introducing new tastes to Londoners. Perhaps why, despite the challenges of the past two years, business is booming. Their upcoming supper club? It sold out in a minute.

From what gets her up on a morning to her biggest superstitions, get ready to meet chef and head of supper club Spoons, Rahel Stephanie, dressed head-to-toe in Givenchy.

What gets you up in the morning?

The next meal. I’m just always consistently thinking about the next meal that I’m going to cook. I just love food. What can I say? My ideal breakfast, if I had all the time in the world, would probably be this amazing Indonesian congee. Urgh so delicious. Like a beautiful, brothy Indonesian congee with some crispy shallots on top and drizzled with some Indonesian sweet soy sauce, which is ketjap manis, and some crispy shallots. So simple but so warming and comforting. I’m generally such a sweet tooth but that’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about my ideal breakfast.

What keeps you out at night?

Oh my god, the first thing that came to mind was the chilli crab I had last night. I was actually very sleepy and up for staying at home and watching Euphoria or something, but it was the chilli crab that I’d had in mind for so long. See that chilli crab, I had to order seven days in advance, and it was like, this is what I need to get out of the house. That’s my fuel. Dining out. I love dining out, not only do I love cooking, but I love dining out. I just love eating other people’s food, basically just eating food not made by myself.

What three words encapsulate you?

The first thing that came to mind was spicy. In every sense. I cannot live without chillies, and I feel I take that inside of every aspect of my life. The next one, I would say a cook because that’s just what I do and what I enjoy doing. Gemini. It’s just that part of me that’s always interested in a million different things at one time and it’s hard to pinpoint me down to one item.

Do you have any superstitions?

This is funny because I think since living in London, since 2013, being back in Indonesia these superstitions feel a lot stronger than they do here. There’s so many memes where you’d see say two pictures of landscapes, and then one let’s say is in the U.K and it’s an empty garden and the next is in Indonesia and suddenly there’s like zombies coming up. We have so many superstitions and being alone in a room in Indonesia feels completely different to being alone in a room in the U.K. For example, one superstition is the smell of jasmine. I love the scent of jasmine and my perfume here is jasmine scented, but in Indonesia, if you smell like the jasmine scent, it means specifically a Japanese ghost has passed by you.

What’s something you hate that you wished you loved more?

I hate making bread. I hate it so much. I’m so bad with cooking with yeast and I feel like so much of Indonesian food and Indonesian pastries obviously require that. But I just haven’t gotten used to doing that in such cold weather in London - it’s so difficult.

What’s your barometer for success?

I don’t think it’s a metric scale that I can measure, that once I achieve this, that’s my idea of success. I feel like success to me is a balance of feeling rewarded but also happy at the same time. Let’s say one day I open up a restaurant but at the same time I’m feeling really unhappy, and I don’t end up loving my project anymore, that’s not success to me. So, just continuing to do what I love and giving back to my community at the same time, I think that’s the perfect balance for me.

What can we expect from you in 2022?

Lots of supper clubs, lots more Indonesian food, lots more cakes… just much more of Spoons, I guess.