I first met Chris about five years ago when Hunter's Kitchen was just beginning. She was then hosting intimate dinners from her home, serving dishes that blended her Teochew and Indonesian Peranakan heritage with such warmth that you felt like you were dining in her family kitchen. Fast forward to today, she has built quite a following and now focuses on corporate events, keeping her private dining sessions for old friends and regulars. So when I finally got to sit at her table again last Friday, it felt like a homecoming, familiar faces, familiar aromas and that unmistakable flair only Chris can bring.

The evening unfolded like a well composed melody. We started with her Teochew-style Fish Head and Yam Soup, gentle and comforting, before the flavours built up with dishes like Sotong Hitam, Balado Eggs, Grilled Oxtails and Asam Garam Prawns. Each dish had its own rhythm, a play of spice, sweetness and depth that spoke of patience and pride.

By the time we reached dessert, a refreshing bowl of Es Teler, I found myself thinking of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The meal moved with the same grace and emotion, from the soft spring of the opening soup to the fiery summer of her sambal, the earthy autumn of the oxtail and finally the cool winter calm of dessert. It was a dinner that sang, not just of flavours but of friendship, nostalgia and the joy of rediscovering a chef who cooks straight from the heart.