By Amanda M. Faison
Photography by Shawn O’Connor & Noah Fecks
When husband-and-wife team Cédric and Ochi Vongerichten opened Wayan, an Indonesian restaurant with modern French flair, in Aspen in December, it was a long time coming. Cédric, son of legendary French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, has been coming to the valley to ski for decades. Over the years, he’s also collaborated with The Little Nell for a series of chef pop-ups, the first of which was with his father.
Last year, he and Ochi, who is from Indonesia, partnered with The Little Nell to host a traditional liwetan dinner. Guests dined in the Balinese style and ate Indonesian dishes served on banana leaves. It was a trial run, an incubator of sorts, for a bigger mission: to bring Wayan, their acclaimed Manhattan restaurant, to the Aspen dining scene. The dinner was a hit, and the rest is culinary history.
Wayan is a tribute to Ochi’s homeland, both visually and gastronomically. Woven basket lanterns hang from the ceilings, and transformative textures play out in stone, wood, and ample greenery. “If you’ve traveled to Indonesia, it feels right,” Cédric says. Texture was also a vital component of the menu, which is a dynamic blend of the traditional foods Ochi grew up with and the French sensibilities and elevated techniques Cédric mastered at the Culinary Institute of America and his father’s Michelin-starred kitchens. It’s all brought to life by bold ingredients like fried garlic chips and shallots, shredded coconut meat, finely grated ginger and turmeric, and bright citrus like makrut lime leaf and calamansi.
Cédric found the careful balance of tradition and technique to be a delightful challenge. Take, for instance, Wayan’s bakwan jagung, a beloved Balinese street food akin to corn fritters. The batter was a bit of a guessing game, requiring a careful deconstruction of the recipe, then an entirely new creation using ingredients found in the U.S. The result is a golden fritter studded with corn that Cédric describes as “almost a landscape—some parts are chewy, some are crunchy, and drizzling it with kecap manis brings out the corn and umami.” Add a dash of the house-made sambal, and it’s a perfect dish.
That sambal has its own backstory. “There are thousands of different sambals in Indonesia. Every village and region has its own condiment,” Cédric says. “When we opened our restaurant in Jakarta, everyone was asking for it, so we made our own, and everyone called it sambal bule, which means ‘foreigner.’” It was, the chef says, a term of endearment (so much so that his restaurant staff also calls him Bule) and a veritable seal of approval. When Wayan opened in New York, bottles of the chili sauce were laid out on every table—so too in Aspen. A couple of drops kicks up the flavor of any dish, adding a touch of heat without going overboard.
Cédric took liberties with some dishes, adding little doses of French flair—with Ochi’s blessing. The rendang is an exquisite example. The traditional Indonesian meat dish is braised in coconut milk and spices, but at Wayan, the chef uses the sauce to cook and flavor escargot. The result is both recognizable and wholly new, and the side of toasted brioche ensures that not a drop of it goes to waste.
Still other flavor combinations Cédric felt obliged to interpret almost entirely unaltered. For anyone who has traveled to Indonesia, Wayan’s chocolate ganache dessert pairing of chocolate, coffee, and avocado is instantly recognizable as the trio of flavors that forms the backbone of Bali’s classic jus alpukat milkshake, a favorite for sipping on hot days. “If you’ve never had it before, it’s a great dessert,” Cédric says. “And if you have had it, you’ll know instantly: It’s an homage to Bali.”