Junior John Rorimpandey (born 20 July 1975) better known as Juna Rorimpandey or ''Chef Juna ''is a professional ''

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

''from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

he is widely known for being a judge in the cooking show ''

MasterChef Indonesia ''MasterChef Indonesia'' (abbreviated as MCI) is an Indonesian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British series of the same name, open to amateur and home chefs. Produced by Endemol Shine Group, it debuted on 1 May 2011 on ...

. ''He has resigned from his position of Executive Chef at Jack Rabbit Restaurant'',

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

'' at the end of July 2011 and is currently still a judge for''

.'' For 12 years he went abroad, as a chef specializing in

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...

and

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

and in October 2016, Juna Rorimpandey opened his first restaurant named "Correla" located on the lobby floor of the Rajawali building

Kuningan Kuningan () is a town and district located in eastern West Java, Indonesia, between Cirebon and Tasikmalaya, about 200 km east of Jakarta. It is the administrative center of Kuningan Regency. The district is located east of Mount Cereme/Cirem ...

South Jakarta South Jakarta (; ), abbreviated as Jaksel, is one of the five administrative cities which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. South Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city council, hence it is not classified as a ...

Early life and career

When he was young, Juna Rorimpandey was a delinquent. After graduating from high school, he went on to study in petroleum engineering at

Trisakti University Universitas Trisakti (Usakti, Trisakti) is Indonesia's largest private university located in Jakarta, Indonesia. Universitas Trisakti, is the only private university in Indonesia which was established by the Government of the Republic of Indones ...

for 3.5 years, but didn't finish his studies because of disciplinary issues. He briefly got into drugs and after Failing to graduate from college in Indonesia, Juna moved to Brownsville,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

in 1997, and sold his motorbike to pay for schooling there. In America, Juna Rorimpandey entered flight school and successfully graduated to get a pilot's license. While he was studying to get his commercial license, his flight school went bankrupt so he moved to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

to continue his training. However, due to the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

, Juna's parents experienced economic difficulties, forcing Juna to find his own money for living expenses. Juna Rorimpandey got into cooking after doing odd jobs to make money, he got a job as a waiter in a traditional Japanese restaurant. After a while, the sushi master at his restaurant offered Juna to be his student. Juna accepted the offer and was willing to be trained from scratch. Afterwards the restaurant owner promoted Juna Rorimpandey to get Permanent Residency in the United States. In 2002, Juna Rorimpandey took over as head chef at the restaurant because the sushi master who trained Juna moved to another restaurant. Then, in 2003, Juna moved to another sushi restaurant in Houston called Uptown Sushi and became Executive Chef there. After getting bored of Japanese cuisine he moved to a French restaurant,

The French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French cuisine, French and California cuisine, Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1 ...

which is known as a restaurant that applies high standards. He also had to learn again from scratch. There he was educated very harshly. After returning home to Indonesia he served as Executive Chef at Jack Rabbit Jakarta restaurant until 2011. He is also active as a judge on

Filmography

Film

TV Show

* ''

'' ( Season 1 - 10) (RCTI) * MasterChef MasterClass Ramadan (RCTI) * ''Arjuna'' (Global TV) * '' Hell's Kitchen Indonesia'' (SCTV) * ''

MasterChef Asia ''MasterChef Asia'' is a regional competitive cooking game show based on the original British show ''MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (Britis ...

'' (Lifetime) * ''

Chef's Table ''Chef's Table'' is an American documentary series created by David Gelb', which premiered on video streaming service Netflix on April 26, 2015. The series takes viewers inside both the lives and kitchens of a variety of acclaimed and successful ...

'' (NET.) * '' Dahsyatnya MasterChef Indonesia'' (RCTI) * ''DCODE: The Progressive Project'' (NET.) * '' OK Chef'' (RCTI)

Commercial

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rorimpandey, Juna Indonesian chefs Living people 1975 births People from Manado