SanDai
Permanently Closed
Chef-driven Southeast Asian fare with innovative California produce fusions
Chef-driven Southeast Asian fare with innovative California produce fusions
"The chef-run restaurant and attached café quietly shuttered after the owner concluded that carrying nearly $30,000 a month in rent amid low foot traffic was unsustainable; the café’s popular fruit latte, however, is slated to expand as the Kopi Bar concept into multiple locations in the coming years." - Paolo Bicchieri
"Once the restaurant arm of a combined Nusantaran concept in downtown Walnut Creek, it officially closed after owner Nora Haron confirmed in a June 18 press release that the Walnut Creek location will shutter entirely. The team cited dried-up weekday foot traffic and an unsustainable $28,500 monthly rent as key reasons, with patrons having noticed signs of instability in recent months. It was a quick favorite for Indonesian dishes such as gado gado, mushroom satay, and fresh seafood preparations like ikan pepes." - Paolo Bicchieri
"Run by chef-owner Nora Haron — who is of Indonesian and Indian descent with family in Bandung — the East Bay restaurant is one of the few U.S. spots offering UNESCO Intangible Culture–designated Malaysian breakfasts alongside Nusantaran cuisine, and it helped introduce an avocado coffee made Bay Area–friendly. After seeing Indonesian cafes use fruit powders, she "upped the quality and made it vegan," building the drink around thickened oat milk and condensed coconut milk with layered espresso on top and using beans from Mr. Espresso. On the drink’s reception she says, "From the beginning people loved it," and, "People were so curious. Today, it’s our best seller." Her coffee background includes starting at Crema in San Jose, running the commissary program at Blue Bottle, and opening Drip Line in West Oakland." - Paolo Bicchieri
"A California spot that reimagines nasi lemak with blue-tinted coconut rice colored by dried butterfly pea flower, Belachan sambal terasi (with fermented shrimp paste, tomatoes, garlic, and shallots), ultra-crispy fried chicken marinated in koji, coconut floss with turmeric, and peanuts; the chef embraces California’s diversity and adapts tradition rather than strictly adhering to it. The roti canai is made from a family ghee-and-flour recipe sweetened with condensed milk and served with a chickpea coconut curry, and instead of teh tarik the kitchen offers a gingery hot milk tea called teh halia. The chef has catered high-profile events, including preparing hundreds of nasi lemaks for the 2023 APEC conference." - Sharon McDonnell
"Chef Nora Haron places Nusantara cuisine front and center at her Walnut Creek restaurant SanDai, where she showcases her take on dishes from the Malay archipelago of Southeast Asia through the lens of Northern California produce. Diners can’t go wrong with the satay options to start, though Haron’s seafood preparations are also packed with flavor such as the recent ikan pepes, a whole rainbow trout wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. The adjacent Kopi Bar is also worth a visit if you have less time to sit and eat, with pastries made fresh daily, plus a selection of specialty coffee and lattes." - Dianne de Guzman
