Restaurateur and Writer Sara Zandi
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Our latest edition of Living in Lekha features our friends Sara Mae and Sohail Zandi, co-owners (and spouses!) of Brushland Eating House in Bovina, New York.
Sara and Sohail wear our fall pieces in their beautiful upstate home, near their restaurant which we highly recommend to anyone who can make the trip for an inventive, ever-changing menu served in a cozy space. Their daughters, Zaffa and Violet, make a short but sweet appearance, all captured by Sinjun Strom.
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In addition to running a restaurant and raising your children, you’re a beautiful writer. How do you maintain a creative practice amidst the business of each day?
I definitely still steal moments, at nap time or once the girls are in bed. Walking Zaffa for her afternoon snooze is a way that I get thinking about marinating in my mind: what’s been weighing on me, reactions to current events, the way I’m missing my mom or how this season of life is bringing me closer to Sohail. Wednesdays have been folded in as a designated writing day, with both girls in care for the afternoon, but it’s mostly about me being inspired and making the time, even if I don’t really have it.
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When you and your husband, Sohail, opened Brushland in 2014, what was your idea of success? Has that changed at all now that you’ve been open for a decade?
Having our own business was a means to an end, and still is. It’s about being able to support our family, to be able to live in Bovina, a town we love so much. It began with the desire to put roots down here, to enjoy the mountains and the ample space, and the restaurant was a way to achieve that. In a lot of instances for restaurants, success is about reaching financial goals or winning awards, which are lovely and admirable, but we wanted to have an anchor here, a home for our commitment to the Catskills, in a much simpler way. So supporting ourselves, by hosting people and serving delicious food, is still success. That hasn’t wavered.
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Shop the Manoj Unisex Suede Jacket
Restaurateurs are the ultimate hosts–what are your tips for home hosts to make a dinner party or gathering extra special?
We love abundance, when food and wine and fun overflow. It’s important to us that our friends and family feel well taken care of, and that looks like lots of everything: snacks out when everyone arrives, offering drinks as soon as someone walks in the door (and pouring throughout!), a great playlist - ours is public, Brushland 2.0, if you like soul and funk and Dr.John - at a nice, booming volume, plenty of candles and low lighting. Creating an atmosphere for easy conversation and downshifting. Sohail & I love karaoke, and we are known to spend a couple hours after service - just the two of us - crooning to 90’s R&B and new country. It’s a really fun way to switch gears after dinner too, when everyone is unsure of what’s next. You can toss a communal plate of dessert on the table and roll out the machine and microphone, handing it to the most outgoing person in the room. It’s the best.
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You went from living in Brooklyn to making a home in Upstate New York. How did you go about building community in a new place?
As with moving anywhere new, especially as an adult, it’s about committing to being a kind and thoughtful neighbor. Not pushing an agenda, or forcing change beyond the wants or needs of this place, that felt like a way to fold in gently. Sohail was always reminding me that if we put our heads down, work really hard, hopefully that will speak to what we care about. From there, it felt like we attracted or were attracted to the people that were moving in a similar way.
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What does your dream day in Bovina look like, from wakeup to sun down?
Coffee in bed, as a family. An episode of The Great British Baking Show, then breakfast at our favorite, Buck Hill Farm. Taking our dog for a walk, Sohail goes hunting and the girls and I bake something or work on crafts: Violet is big on collaging these days! In the summer we are in the garden a lot, or sitting in the stream and counting rocks. In the winter, afternoons are about building fires in the wood stove and daydreaming about future projects. Sohail is usually making dinner, I often request brothy noodles when it’s cold out, the girls always want burgers when it’s warm and we can eat on the porch. We insulate really hard on our days off, and love being together at home, the four of us. We could truly be cuddled on the couch, staring at each other eating popcorn, and it’s the best day ever.
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How would you describe your personal style? What is your typical working uniform?
It’s functional in a pretty classic silhouette, I’d say. I’ve tried to wear precious things that I find beautiful, but if they don’t move with me, or allow me to get close to my girls working with pastel crayons, it’s a no go. I love vintage Levi’s with a soft cardigan, or a wool sweater and kick flare pants. I also live in my cotton Key coveralls - I have two pairs, they are navy and get softer over time. I found them at a local hardware store. I’m usually in rubber clogs or cowboy boots, now that it’s November and getting cold.
Shop the Swati Dress in Cotton Satin
Shop the Swati Dress in Cotton Satin
What is your connection to New Orleans? Can you talk about what the city means to you and a few of your must-go spots whenever you visit?
There is a pretty direct line between the Catskills and New Orleans, unsurprisingly given the contrast of landscapes and energy - being able to have both is the dream, and we found friends here who spent time down in Louisiana. We started visiting shortly after opening Brushland, and pretty instantly knew we would be back often or find a way to get to know the city better. It is a really special place, with such vibrant culture and an inspiring resiliency, not only in the way that food and drink and music is consumed (incredible) but in the spirit of celebrating the every day, in the face of uncertainty or challenge. It is electric, so contagious. We wanted our girls to know and love that feeling, too. It was great luck that we found our house there, a jewel box of a shotgun that gets us close to all the people and things we love there.
Pond for too many espressos - Fradys for a poboy - a Bloody Mary from Cosimo’s to take to the playground to wear our kids out - McHardys for eating in the park - Budsis when we are feeling cozy. Domino sound for discovering something new, consign consign for discovering something old.
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Lastly, a rapid fire round:
Favorite recent discovery? That Tiny Nest Botanicals is opening a store front! And also Neil Young’s 1971 BBC concert.
Favorite spot in Upstate New York? Rose Hill Farm during peach season.
Personal role model or mentor, or a woman you look up to? My mother.
Last book you read or are reading? Listening to “Matrescence” by Lucy Jones.
Something you think is underrated? Whole milk.
Something you can't live without? Hope.
Dream dinner guest? My maternal grandmother.
In the mountains or on the water? Both? I was raised in Florida by the beach!
Sunrise or sunset? Sunset.
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