Sandia Chang arrived in New York with a knife roll and the conviction that if she could make it as a chef there, she could make it anywhere. She was wrong about the chef part, and it turned out to be the most useful mistake of her career. A food runner's job at Thomas Keller's Per Se showed her where she truly belonged, and the culinary training she thought she was abandoning became the foundation for something rarer: a front of house expert who could read a kitchen as fluently as a wine list. From Per Se to Noma to Simon Rogan's original Roganic, she gathered the knowledge that would let her, in 2012, open Bubbledogs and the two Michelin starred Kitchen Table alongside her husband, chef James Knappett.
Sandia has become one of London's most respected sommeliers, known across the industry for a knowledge of grower Champagne that sends her back to the region again and again in search of the next bottle worth pouring. What stands out in her story is how deliberately she built her career, turning down the highest salaries she was offered in favour of the experiences that would one day let her set her own terms, always working with the bigger picture in view.
In this Career Spotlight, Sandia talks about running a restaurant with the person she argues with every single day, why empathy is the skill she prizes above all others, and how she learned the hard way that owning the restaurant of your dreams has far more to do with budgets and cost control than working the floor.
Career Spotlight: Sandia Chang, Co-Founder of Kitchen Table
What was the journey that led you to your current role?
I studied hospitality management in university with the dream to work in hotel operations. I quickly realised that hotels weren't my stick and very easily gravitated towards restaurants. After graduation, I wasn’t too sure which sector of the restaurant business I wanted to focus on. And between restaurant design and culinary arts, I decided to pursue a chef career and attended the Culinary Institute of America. After graduation, I packed my bags and moved to New York City to be a chef and to live the “if you make it there, you make it anywhere” life.
But very quickly whilst working in a great two Michelin star restaurant, I realised that being a chef wasn’t my calling. I really loved restaurants as a whole and couldn’t commit myself to just being a chef. That was when I took a front of house job as a food runner at Thomas Keller’s newly opened restaurant Per Se. It was there, I grew into my role in the front of the house. And with my culinary knowledge I quickly excelled there and found myself involved with wines and worked my way up the ladder in the front of the house team.
I met my husband whilst working at Per Se. We quickly married for visa reasons but it was a great start of our journey together. We moved from New York to Copenhagen and worked at Noma where I was exposed to the most amazing world of wines and especially Grower Champagnes. Then we moved back to London and I was fortunate to help Simon Rogan open his original Roganic pop up in Marylebone. And it was during that time that we got to meet our current business partners, the Sethis, who helped us open Bubbledogs and Kitchen Table in 2012.
What’s been the hardest thing about your career journey so far, and how did you get through it?
The hardest thing in my career journey is opening and running a business with my husband. There wasn’t a day and still isn’t a day that we don’t fight and argue over something about our restaurant. We challenge each other constantly and it is because of this constant challenge that got us to the accolades and successes we have today.
Although we don’t always see eye to eye, I realised that he is the only person in the whole world that has my back. Whatever it is that he does, it is for the same exact reason I do it; the benefit for our restaurant and to make each other better. And it is this understanding that gets me through it.
What’s the realistic salary range for your role? At entry level, mid-career, and at the top.
Salary is very specific to the type of establishment. Small independent businesses will have less flexibility than larger corporations or businesses to offer larger salaries. The most important thing to consider when looking for a role is to not only think about money but also the priceless experience you will get from that place.
Always just make sure you are getting enough to live the lifestyle that you are comfortable living because if you’re not happy outside of work, you won’t be happy at work either.
How has your earning potential changed over time, and what has influenced those jumps, plateaus or dips
The highest salary I have ever earned was actually working as a waitress in New York City when I was starting out my career. Since then, my decisions on taking lesser salaries has always been based on how it would benefit me experience wise.
I took a job at Noma because I wanted to experience another service culture and be part of an exciting up and coming restaurant. I took a job opening Roganic because I wanted to learn how to open a new restaurant and manage a wine list. All decisions were made with a bigger picture in mind that one day, I would be able to dictate what I will earn.
What’s the most unexpected part of your role?
I have somehow become Chef James Knappett’s personal assistant!
What’s the best part of the job?
Working service and being able to teach and inspire the team that I work with.
What’s the hardest or most draining part?
Balancing and finding time in between being a mother, a wife and a restaurateur.
What skills matter most in your role — beyond the obvious ones?
Empathy. Having empathy working as a sommelier and also generally in hospitality, allows you to understand your guests better in order to recommend a perfect wine, give them personalised service and handling complaints. Empathy also helps you manage staff. In order to manage a team better, you need to understand each individual to bring out the best in them.
What did you have to learn the hard way?
Opening a restaurant doesn’t mean you get to have fun in the restaurant all the time. I have dreamt about having my own restaurant since I was a little girl and working the floor every night and making guests happy. I learned the hard way that having a successful restaurant has a lot more to do with behind the scenes, budgets, cost control, staff management etc.
What advice would you give to someone trying to break into the industry
Don’t let titles and salary get in the way of learning a good foundation. I cannot express the importance of knowing fundamentals and collecting as much experience as you can. Be humble and find a mentor that can guide you through your journey.
About Sandia Chang
California-raised Sandia Chang’s career has spanned across the world’s most sought-after restaurants and wine lists, including New York’s Per Se and Noma in Copenhagen. In 2012, Sandia launched Bubbledogs and the two Michelin-starred restaurant Kitchen Table with her husband and Executive Chef, James Knappett. She is now one of London’s most exciting sommeliers, recognised for her extensive knowledge of Champagne across the industry, and holding several awards in the field - including ‘Best Front of House’ (GQ Food & Drink Awards, 2018) and the ‘Wine and Spirit Ambassador Award’ (Cateys, 2019). Sandia is also known for her stints as an expert sommelier on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and C4’s Sunday Brunch - pairing wines with dishes from top chefs, live in the studio. Her particular interest lies in grower Champagnes, with Sandia making regular visits to small-scale producers in the region, constantly on the lookout for new wines to add to her evolving lists. In 2020, Sandia launched Bubbleshop by Sandia Chang, a one-stop online shop delivering the most sought-after bottles of grower Champagnes nationwide, where guests of Kitchen Table can purchase any of the wines they sample during their visit.
