Meet Sara Frost of Spooning With Sara in West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Frost.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My love for cooking began at a young age, as I grew up in a family where there were always too many cooks in the kitchen. Growing up in NYC, I was constantly experimenting with new recipes, discovering new ingredients, and practicing technical skills with my mom. However, when I was younger, cooking was never my main passion, but more of a way to unwind and spend time with my mom. My plan was to be a professional actor and up until the fall of 2018, that’s the path I was on. I attended the University of Michigan, where I received my BFA in Acting. After graduating, I moved to LA and although I was loving living in a new city, I found it difficult to meet new friends that weren’t in my inner circle.

So, in January 2018, I began hosting frequent dinner parties. It started with a handful of friends, meeting for a home cooked meal on Wednesday nights in an attempt to break up the monotony of the work week. Good food, good company. Simple. By the third month, the ritual of Wednesday nights changed to Saturday nights. Eight friends soon became thirty. We bought new (Ikea, folding) chairs and new friends shared a seat at our table. Our menus expanded as fast as our appetites did and unique musicians brought beautiful life into our living rooms. ‘Spooning With Sara’ became an escape from whatever was ‘going on’ that week; a comforting nook full of delicious food, conversation, and creativity.

My approach to food is rooted in connecting people to each other and to new flavors and fresh ingredients through her love for cooking. 18 months, 33 dinners and over a hundred guests later, ‘Spooning With Sara’ has become a vibrant (and yummy) community for young professionals and artists in Los Angeles.

Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not. I am a huge believer in things happening for a reason. But, the past year of my life has been so unexpected and at many times, very challenging. For my entire life, I was on ‘the right track’ to be a professional actor. I checked all the right boxes: got the best training, dedicated myself holistically, found great representation and was happily auditioning with increasing frequency. However, as I started to host more and more pop-up dinners, I found myself waking up and wanting to cook obsessively. I started working for a private catering company in order to really improve my skills in a professional setting. I was loving it. In the summer of 2018, I was still auditioning and was hosting 30 person dinner parties every other week. The demand for the dinners was overwhelming and I was fully hooked into every element that went into curating the dinners. However, by September, I found myself completely burnt out. I was trying to run 100mph in both the acting world and the culinary world– I was spreading myself too thin and was not taking care of myself.

In November of 2018, with the help of my manager, I decided to take a break from auditioning and focus 100% on Spooning With Sara. Since then, my business has grown into something I couldn’t have ever imagined. I co-founded another company called Alice Street, have connected with so many other young chefs in LA, have started a meal-delivery business, and am working as a private chef, caterer, and event planner. It was the hardest decision of my life to veer off of the ‘path’ I had set myself no from such a young age, but I’ve never been happier.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Spooning With Sara – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
‘Spooning With Sara’ is name of my culinary brand. I do catering, host a pop-up dinner series, event planning, meal-delivery, cooking lessons and curate my own recipes. I recently launched my website and have been working hard on the blog portion of the site, where I share my recipes and other culinary musings. Since January 2019, the catering side of ‘Spooning With Sara’ has really taken off and I’ve been lucky enough to be keeping very busy with that. The business is really growing through word of mouth and I’m really so grateful to have worked with so many great clients.

I love a good party. I love creating intimate and unique environments for people to connect over food, music, and conversation. At the heart of “Spooning With Sara’ is my love for growing a sense of genuine community and connecting people. My business has grown so organically and I am so proud of the work I have done. But above all else, I’m always so humbled by how amazing the guests at my dinners and events are in spreading the word about my little business.

It’s truly thanks to all the support and encouragement I’ve received from both friends and strangers (who have become friends). I couldn’t. have done any of it without the help of my sous-chef and best friend, Lila Hood, and my boyfriend, Jake Glaser, who is in charge of the music portion of ‘Spooning events. I am very proud of being a small business owner and the ability to work for myself, but it really still does take a village (and I am so grateful for my village).

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I can’t say it was an easy transition moving from NYC to LA. I missed my family, I missed my neighborhood and most of all, I missed the accessibility of NYC. However, after about ten months of living here, I began to absolutely love it. I’m lucky enough to live in a very walkable neighborhood and walking is one of the aspects of NYC I miss most. However, I’ve learned to love my car.

I love that in Los Angeles, everyone is on their own schedule. Everyone is so collaborative, creative and bold here. I remember when I first moved here, I was driving past a brunch spot in Silver Lake that had a line around the corner. It was 11am on a Tuesday, not 11am on a Saturday or Sunday. I remember being so confused– “doesn’t anyone work here?!”. However, I soon came to realize that everyone is on their own path, getting their work done in their own time, in their own way. I love that about LA. Most people have more than one job. Everyone has multiple projects, multiple ideas, multiple ways of doing things. The diversity of this city is amazing to me, but there is a clear connective webbing that draws everyone together.

Contact Info:

• Website: spooningwithsara.com
• Email: spooningwithsara@gmail.com
• Instagram: @spooningwithsara

Image Credit:
Jacob Lyle

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