Sandra's Next Generation Soul Food - Telling Their Story
A story short with Sandra and Miguel Pittman owners of Sandra's Next Generation Soul Food Restaurant in The Hill neighborhood, New Haven, CT. They share on their 32+ year journey as restaurateurs, being pillars in their community, and the family legacy they have fostered. The full transcript of the interview is below. Listen by podcast or at the link above or check out this synched audio and photo slideshow.
This story is one in a six part series of BIPOC food business owners sponsored by The Yale School of the Environment. We hope these stories inspire you to check out these delicious family run businesses (if you are lucky enough to live near by), and to spend more time getting to know the people in your community who make and sell food. Stories produced by our host Tagan Engel, edited by Jon Oliver Music, photographed by Maza Rey Photography.
Transcript of Sandra and Miguel Pittman of Sandra’s Next Generation Soul Food
Sandra: My name is Sandra Harris Pittman. The name of the restaurant is Sandra’s Next Generation. I am the owner slash chef, Chef Sandra.
Miguel: And I guess I'm her sidekick, her husband for 39 years. Miguel Pittman. I guess my title would be manager. Yes. Because I'm not the chef. My wife is the chef!
Sandra: What inspired me to open up a restaurant actually was my husband, Miguel. You know, I had the gift, the talents to cook. I cook for the community, I cook for the church—and every Friday, I will cook dinners for the community, and I was selling for $5. And every week, Miguel saw what I was doing. And he just said to me out of nowhere, he said, “Honey, what do you think about open up your own business?” I really did never have that idea. Until he asked me that question. And I was like, “Yes, that sounds good. Let's do it!”
As a little girl, my mom will always share stories in terms of how she was born and raised from Selma, Alabama, where she picked cotton. And she actually dropped out of school in ninth grade to help her siblings and my art were to teach her how to cook. So those stories kind of resonated with me, warn about a lot of girls. So I will sit down and watch my mom prepare food for the household, dad and six children. And when I tell you her breakfast, lunch and dinner, we didn't really know about fast food growing up our household we knew about good Southern Cooking.
And then when I met the love of my life, he will always talk about his grandmother saying, honey, you gotta meet my grandmother. My grandmother cooks so well. Your food doesn't taste like my grandmother, your food doesn't taste like my grandmother. So I heard that a lot. While you know, we first got married. So that really encouraged me to practice more on cooking a look at me today in terms of he doesn't say that anymore. So I might be kind of close to grandma.
I pay attention to my customers. I'm one of those ones who's more in the forefront. Hello, how are you? Is this your first time down in that Sandra's? You know, how did you find out so I think that when it comes to food, I think customer service, hospitality. Everything works hand in hand together.
Miguel: I'm just happy to be a part of her vision. And to be able to contribute based upon the gift and the talent that I have in terms of management, marketing, and doing projection for the business, and always keeping my hands on the pulse of the business not only with our business, but business in general—watching the economy. So I guess we make a good team. We balanced each other and that's one of the reasons why we still together after 39 years.
Some of the things that people enjoy eating is—if I would pick their favorite—I would say the chop barbecue. But also we do offer a turkey chop,for folks that don't eat pork and a combination of the candied yams and the collard greens and black eyed peas. So it's amazing how you put those items together and it creates a flavor by itself. And that's why they call it soul food, because it comes from the soul.
Sandra: I would say the most popular dish is a Church Plate. There's four sides: one meat, fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, candy yams and black eyed peas. I love to cook. I think it's important not just to focus on your own culture. Just learn different types of cultures of food and just add a little twist to it.
For example, my empanadas. When people actually see it on the menu, they like “no way soul empanadas! What is soul empanadas?” Soul meaning: collard greens, macaroni and cheese, candy yams. So I put some soul inside the empandas. Just being different and thinking outside the box, and really creating something different.
Sandra’sext Generation is our four children: Shandrea, Shantay, Sharwin and Miguel Jr.,and then our four grandchildren too. Cuz they going to be holding the cornbread really soon as well. So all four of our children are heavily involved in the business, they have their own role. And that's the “Next generation”.
Miguel: The way I look at the “Next Generation” is…it doesn't necessarily mean that is going to be the next generation in the restaurant business. I look at as the next generation in a business, whichever direction they decide to go. But I think that their experience in a training that they received me now in the restaurant business is going to prepare them for wherever their endeavor may be, because business is business. The model is the same as all about having a product, meeting demand, being consistent in what you're doing, and doing projections. And that applies across any business that you might decide to get into.
Sandra: Our restaurant—Sandra’s Next Generation—we’re very heavily involved in the community. We often have different events, like we just held a big one for Juneteenth. We had different vendors with different types of business, let people know about Black excellence and just trying to be a role model. You know, to let people know, dream big, dream big, anything that you desire in your heart, you know you want to do you just have to go out and just make it happen. Just do it.
Miguel: I think that our business does play a role that we as African Americans, we can also run a very successful business. And we are a living testimony.
Sandra: So just being in the community, myself, my husband, raising four children here, now four grandchildren here, and we're excited. The Hill is our home. And we here for the long run. We really are!
Sandra’s Next Generation Soul Food - 636 Congress Ave, New Haven, CT
