Local chef invites fans of Indonesian food to pull up to her kitchen

The force behind Tuti's Kitchen food truck

One food truck brings the food from the streets of Sumatra to the heart of Tampa Bay. FOX 13 photojournalist Jason Wright shows off the force behind Tuti's Kitchen.

TAMPA - One woman's passion for making the authentic recipes from her home country inspired her to open a food truck to offer that culinary experience to tempt the taste buds of Tampa residents.
Tuti's Kitchen offers traditional Indonesian dishes like Bakso, Beef Rendang and Mie Goreng.

What they're saying:

The owner operator is Astuti, and that is where the name comes from for Tuti's Kitchen.

"Tuti's Kitchen is authentic Indonesian food," she shared. "This is like the first Indonesian food in Tampa, and everybody, like every person wants to try Indonesian food."

Her goal is to invite people into her kitchen to taste homemade food just like she grew up with, with the fantastic flavors and fresh ingredients.

"Everything is homemade. Most of my customers are very happy when they come because like we are very friendly," she said. "All my customers are my friends, my family. That's why like they come back to see us here."

Chicken Satay

WHERE CAN I GET INDONESIAN FOOD IN TAMPA?

Dig deeper:

Astuti creates the real Indonesian dishes she grew up on there at Tuti's Kitchen.

"We have like chicken satay, very famous... chicken satay with peanut sauce," she said, "And then we have beef rendang... Beef rendang is like very famous in Indonesia."

For the health conscious, they have salad offerings.

"And then we have the tofu salad. It comes with the tofu, cucumber, rice cake, and peanut sauce and kecap manis, like sweet sauce," she said.

She creates several signature entrées that are traditional staples for those customers interested in Indonesian food.

"We have Mie Goreng, like fried noodles. Nasi Goreng is fried rice. And then we have Indonesian Pho," Astuti said. "Pho, like bakso, we call bakso kuah. And then we have... the appetizer name like Tahu Isi, like stuffed tofu."

She will also create boba teas for fans of milk tea or fruit tea.

What you can do:

To visit Tuti's Kitchen, you will find them parked at 4103 Gunn Highway in Tampa. 
You can find their Instagram page here.
You can find their Facebook page here.