Meet Nick And Pheren Tamura | Food Catering specialized in Balinese and Javanese foods

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nick And Pheren Tamura and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nick and Pheren, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
We came up with the idea for Seleraku Los Angeles during the pandemic in 2020. I was impressing my Indonesian girlfriend, at the time Pheren, (now wife), with my skills and experience in Indonesian cooking. She was so excited to have the readily available “taste of home” that she suggested we start a business selling the beloved food which was so hard to find, in abundance, in the West Hollywood area. We starting thinking up names and Pheren came up with the name Seleraku (meaning “my taste”) in Bahasa Indonesian. And with that, the idea to bring traditional Indonesian food to the people of Los Angeles was born. Combining Nick’s experience in Balinese food and Pheren’s hometown expertise of Javanese food.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Both Pheren and Nick have strong artistic backgrounds. Pheren is a well respected fashion designer and photographer, who as won many awards. And Nick, who besides many years in the restaurant business, has a deep love of martial arts. So we approach food from that same perspective. We believe that every detail is important, the infusion and harmony of taste, texture and color. All contributes to the experience of eating our food. And of course we believe that energy is a tangible ingredient. So we strive to put love and focus in making it the best experience we can offer.
We are still getting to where we are going , It hasn’t been easy. The Los Angeles food scene continues to struggle with challenges. Restaurants are being devastated, we hope that our catering model can help us navigate the rough terrain. Its important to stay flexible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hiking in Griffith Park, Walt Disney Concert Hall in DTLA for the architecture and The Grove, Rodeo Drive for shopping. To eat, Thai town’s Ruen Pair and Chinatown’ Phoenix restaurants . We both don’t really hang out that much but we love nature so much, so we will always suggest all the hiking trails in Los Angeles and Malibu areas.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We had huge help in starting out, with a very supportive group and community that continues to help us get our feet off the ground. The Indonesian Community called Indonesian Women’s Alliance (IWA), Japanese Knifes Imports (who always makes great effort in spreading the word of “our delicious food” as owner Jonathan Broida calls it) , Indo Street Cafe Brea, our sister Uchi for Rodeo Drive group, our family and our clients who have been supporting us since the very beginning.

Website: https://selerakulosangeles.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selerakulosangeles/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/seleraku-los-angeles-2

Image Credits
All photos taken by Seleraku Los Angeles