BUNGA JEHNSEN
Imet Stephane in Seminyak in 2014 during a girl’s night out. Somehow, we ended up sitting together with a bottle of wine and talked until the wee hours of the morning. I was immediately attracted to his frankness and lack of pretension; he has always been authentic since day one. Then, I found out that he worked as the executive chef of Alila Villas Uluwatu; his working hours were long; and his days off were limited. Sometimes, we had to schedule our dates one week in advance. Fortunately my job as a realtor gave me a lot of flexibility to match his tight schedule. I was born and raised in Bali. My family members are diehard foodies who live to eat, and Stephane succeeded in wooing me with good food. On his precious days off, he would invite me over to his place and cooked for me. Food has always been an inseparable part of our story. He loves to eat as much as he loves to cook. He made me try different cuisines, took me to Michelinstarred restaurants in France and Spain, and opened up my palate, so to speak. In return, I took him to my favourite local food joints such as Warung Lawar Kodi for babi guling, which only opens after midnight, and others. He loves it!
He proposed to me in 2015 and by the end of that year, we were married. Shortly after, we started to toy with the idea of opening our own restaurant. Stephane is very passionate about pastry. We started Folie and sold his pastries and desserts to different cafes and restaurants. It was a success and we decided to open a place in Batubelig, Kerobokan. At the same time, we found out that I was pregnant with our first daughter, Lilou. Her arrival and Folie’s opening happened within the same month in 2017. It wasn’t easy. Stephane was busy in the kitchen, building his team, making sure that everything worked perfectly. I was running around with a baby while managing the restaurant’s sales and marketing. But, somehow we made it work.
We opened our second restaurant, Café Folie at Beachwalk Shopping Centre in 2018, and we constantly continue to expand our offerings. Admittedly, it is not easy to work and live together as a couple. There are moments when we just can’t switch off from work. We found that taking weekend breaks and travelling together definitely helped. I just gave birth to our second daughter, Anais, last October so we now have four children to take care of. It is a lot of work but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”