Marta Sandini
Chef Marta Sandini
Q&A
Tell us about you
Hey I’m Marta Sandini, I’m an Italian born and raised 33 years old from Gazzo padovano near Padova, 40 mins away from Venice. @martasandini
I’m a Chef with a food and beverage degree from institute Maffioli, a culinary school I attended in Italy, from the age of 14 to 19.
Being a chef is being an artist, you get to be creative every single day with an infinite variety of ingredients, inspired by a lot of people, things you see, other people’s art and music!!! You have to fuse all the things you know, your experience with all the new things you see every day, you’ll get to deliver that to the guest that choose to come to you, they put their happiness in our hands and us, chef, with our craft, our art we get to make them happy! Is a huge responsibility and the most beautiful feeling in the world.
I’m currently residing in London, where I dedicated this year to do pop ups all around London and Italy.
I was head chef at naughty piglets in Brixton, south London, for two years.
Previosly I’ve work in Slovenia, hisa Franko, one of the 50 best restaurants of the world, run by Ana Rod, best female chef on the world 2017. I’ve work in a few awarded restaurants in London as Luca, 1 Michelin star and Allegra, Clos Maggiore and a short time at diner by Heston Blumenthal.
I also started my career I Italy, for then moving to Australia where I was able to expand my culinary skills and knowledges, then I moved to China, in Shandong at 23, I got offer to help a couple of Chinese owners to operate and starting up a new Italian restaurant in Dongying, Shandong region.
Appetizers by Marta Sandini
Your journey?
For a lot of chefs, people, being a chef nowadays is equal as being a rock star or an actor, for me is being a grandma haha. Being a chef for me is being able to gather people together and make them happy with the food, is the whole experience of making them feel welcome, in a safe space where I can take care of them. I grew up living with my grandmother at home, Nonna bertilla, we were and we are the part of the family with the main house, so every birthday or festivity we gather together and is always a party, an house full of love.
I’m lucky I grew up with just grandmas, 4 of them to be exact, Nonna Bertilla, Nonna Pina, great grandma Angela and an adoptive one Nonna Maria, I’ve learn different cooking techniques from them. Never met my grampas, even though they told me I’m my none Nini copycat, he was the most welcome, always up for parties and dinner or cooking for people, person.
So I guess I got my chefs vibes from my family!
Starting as a professional when I was 19, in Italy, it was of course challenging throwing myself in the real professional world, I was young and hungry of knowledges. Challenging cause you know when you are the youngest among older people, sometimes you get bullied or isolated, but eventually you get to make steps in this pyramid. I moved to Australia when I was 21, work there for an year, first time leaving everyone and everything I knew behind, on this solo experience I saw different styles of hospitality and realized I wanted to do this job in a different way, I want to make a difference, so I gave myself goals to achieve. After my visa ended, I got offer the second visa, which I paused to go back to Italy, and there while I was working a got to cook for this Chinese couple, and the next day they came back, they loved the food, the offer my a job, to open an Italian restaurant in China! So I said why not, if is not working I can always go back! Once in china I discovered the real new challenges I had to overcome, setting up a restaurant is hard, harder is you are only 23, even more harder if you don’t know where you are and you don’t speak the language! With help and commitment I achieved that, we opened and is still running.
Move to London after that, worked in Highbury and islington, got called from a friend to come and help running a restaurant and after a while I got bored, so ive done a short time at diner by Heston on London. After that went back to Italy, work in a restaurant there and participated at the tv shoe w hell’s kitchen, after that back to London and end of the year probably in the place that shaped me the most, Hisa Franko, with Ana and the whole team, where my palate expended, where my mind started wandering, were connection with people where at the base of everything. Until I came back to London, Luca, Allegra and Naughty piglets were I got to lead this restaurant and let the guest try the Marta’s experience, finally I was having a voice through food, people got to know me through my craft. As a woman in this industry is quite hard to get support. I’m friend with a lot of people of hospitality, I support most of them when I can, I have to say so far not all my colleague friend showed up to support.
I believe showing up is a big thing, you know showing up to support someone gives the energy and the drive to the person to to keep them going.
Food as Art
I agree. Food is art. Culinary creations can evoke emotions, tell stories, taking you on a journey and engage the senses much like traditional art forms. There is creativity in plating a dish, the food presentation, the creativity involved in recipe development, and the cultural significance of different cuisines. Chefs and food artists often experiment with experiment with colours, textures and flavors, transforming meals into visually delicious masterpieces. Ultimately, viewing food as art encourages a deeper connection between the creator and the consumer, fostering a greater appreciation for the culinary craft.
I’m lucky I’m doing a job that I love and I enjoy a lot to do, I’m having fun while I’m doing it, and when you love what you’re doing is easy to pour all the emotions into it, the feelings that I feel and thinking about how do I surprise the guest with the flavour, how do I interact with them. I use my work experience and life experience to bring to life what it could be a journey for others.
Signature Creations?
The most recent signature dish I’ve created is a prawn in choux, like the traditional Chinese dish prawn on toast, but my way. A golden choux bun, filled with a mousse of prawn, ginger, spring onion, celery and sesame oil, dipped in a tangy plum sweet chilli sauce and coated with a mix of sesame crunch, made with black and white sesame seeds and roasted brown rice, served with homemade crispy chilli oil and aioli. Is a fun and unexpected way to serve something that is a classic in the Chinese cuisine. After living in China and being able to see them cooking I felt connected to their cuisine as well. I had this ideas for months in my head, I had a clear image of what this dish was going to look like, it was after a recent trip to NYcity, at Sorate of Silvia Mella, she made me try an amazing crunchy tea before getting infused and my mind went crazy full of ideas!!! In the moment in my head I knew what I had to do to bring it to life.
Behind the Apron?
I love foraging, walking and I love listening to music and I love talking to people. This is my way to draw inspiration, memories are also a big draw of inspirations for me! And of course all the travels Australia, China, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, US.
The most used tool in a kitchen is the knife, I couldn’t work without it. Or a blender, but mostly the knife. Depends on the way you look at it, I had a funny and unexpected event that happen, 4 am, market in china I was very sleepy and we were trying to look for suppliers, a man approached me with a pigeon, live, in his hand, and he’s snapped it’s neck in front of my eyes. It was a shocking moment, with this men trying to sell to me this dead pigeon at 4 am.
Trends and Reflections?
I don’t really look up at trends on social media, but I like to see and learn a lot, you need to be curious. Tradition and innovation, balancing the two is a dynamic interplay that enriches culinary experiences, this balance can be achieved in several ways, respecting heritages, incorporating modern techniques, seasonal and local ingredients, cultural fusion, sustainability and personal touch. Striking this balance requires a deep understanding of both traditional culinary practice and contemporary trends, allowing chefs to create dishes that honour the past while looking toward the future.
What would you like to share with the Readers?
Let’s honor food as a vibrant expression of our emotions and creativity. Remember that every bite is a celebration of life, love and if possible sustainability, food tells stories, narrating experiences, cultures and the love we pour into it.
3 words to describe my approach on food: savor, sustain, create.
What’s ahead?
So next year is a full on year, I know I have already pop ups and residencies confirmed in London, I’m waiting for some confirmations coming from New York, I got confirmed a pop up in Bangkok and looking forward to something also unplanned happen, I’m always leaving space and time to let anything happen!!!! Also working on a cooking book and I recently started to work with someone on a business plan for a potential restaurant, hopefully everything will lead to a 2025 and 2026 full of surprises!!!