about sanditas
Welcome to the world of Sandita's, where we create food experiences from the joy of nostalgia.
Something evokes the feeling of coming home. Leaning forward to serve your guests, tucking back an effortless braid tied with Mum’s silk scarf. The colours on the plate, mixing with the flavors of the moment, a sentence beginning with ‘this reminds me of…’. The smell of a wood burning fire, fish sauce and chili. Music and the murmur of conversation becoming one. And nourishment with gratitude to our farmers and families for teaching us along the way. This is Sandita’s.
Sandita’s began as a backyard dinner series that explored the bold, spicy and unctuous colours of Chef Sandy Ho’s Vietnamese heritage and world experience. As Covid 19 prevented our ongoing dinners, Sandita’s pivoted to making weekly meals for the community. These meals turned into our signature Rainbow Dumplings, floral cakes and fortune cookies. Something to spark joy and savor in a time of unknown. We filled our cookies with lyrics from love songs, we foraged for flowers that adorned our cakes and we used ingredients from farm boxes to dye our dumpling wrappers. This became our foundation - the practice of love and care as cornerstones for good food.
Now that the world has opened up again, we’ve returned to curating bespoke menus for events, pop ups and brand activations while also continuing to share loved food with our community where ever we can!
food as medicine - a note during the time of COVID 19
More than 1,800 years ago Zhang Zhogjing, the founder of Chinese Herbal Medicine “invented” the dumpling. As the story goes, Zhongjing was returning from government duties in Changsha, Hunan Province to his hometown of Nanyang City, Henan Province. Upon arriving he came upon huddles of starving people suffering from Typhoid and perishing from cold, their ears turning black and blue from frostbite. He quickly began work, administering medicine, serving his patients a brew of warming, nourishing, medicinal soup. Word quickly spread and masses of nearby people came to receive treatment and nourishment from the doctor. The medicine he made was called Qū hán jiāo ěr tāng (祛寒娇耳汤), a soup that removes cold and relieves the ears, a brew that drew upon 300 years of clinical practice in the Han Dynasty. In order to best get this warming brew to the masses, he wrapped the mixture in wheat flour skins to create ear-shaped balls and boiled them until cooked. He gave these little ears out for free to any and all that came seeking treatment. Drawing from this history, we deeply recognize the power of food as medicine. Not only to ward off disease, but to nourish, warm and call in community in times of great despair. It is with this spirit that Sandita’s was officially formed as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Rainbow Dumplings have been a way to bring joy and nourishing food to all those stuck in their homes; to bring the community together during a time when we are not physically allowed to share a table. This mentality is a throughline in all we do and how we approach food, community, medicine and joy.
about chef sandy
Sandy Ho is a Vietnamese, Australian born chef fascinated by the intersection of food and art. Her work is forever inspired by nature's colours, Vietnamese nostalgia, and her experience in the world. Before switching to a career in food, Ho studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts and was convinced she would become an artist. However, during this time working in restaurants to pay for art supplies, she came to realize that her creativity was meant for the kitchen, for food and with people. This enlightenment took Chef Sandy back to her childhood in the kitchen with family; wrapping, rolling, cooking and eating together. A driving force that led her to spend the years following graduation, learning everything she could from mentors in Melbourne, Australia. Then in 2014 she booked a sailing trip to the Pontine Islands of Italy and didn't look back. Chef Sandy spent the next few years on boats all over the world curating unique food experiences for guests in locations such as Croatia, The British Virgin Islands, Sardinia, Greece, Thailand. These experiences helped to cultivate her voice in the industry, one of closeness to farmers and joy in seasonality. When she finally landed in Los Angeles 4 years ago, Sandita’s was born!
Since then, she has been working with brands and individuals all over to help bring their food experience to life with signature events, pop ups and unique food styling.
Her work aspires to spark positive sharing of flavor and food for everyone.