Sandy runs the room.
Bentley runs the kitchen.
That's the whole staff.
They met at Auburn's Greenhurst Country Club — he was the head chef, she managed the office. In July 2001 they opened the doors of a century-old former appliance store on South Main, and they've been the entire crew ever since.
There's no walk-in cooler and no freezer at Sandra D's — on purpose. Ingredients come in fresh, get cooked, and the menu moves with what's good. In 2007 the café went all-Italian, and from that day the bread, the sauces, and the salad dressings have all been made in-house.
It hasn't all been breadsticks. In 2014 a burst pipe upstairs poured seven thousand gallons through the building and closed them for four months. "We thought we were finished," Sandy said — and it was their customers who talked them into coming back.
Since 2018, their monthly "Soup for the Soul" nights have served creative soups for donations — a tradition that had raised more than $34,000 for local charities by 2021, and kept going.
Bentley is head chef at Greenhurst Country Club; Sandy manages the office. They meet, and they buy a century-old building on South Main.
Sandra D's opens — originally 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., breakfast included, until the schedule nearly cooked the chef too.
The menu goes all-Italian. Bread, gravy, and dressings are made from scratch from here on out.
A burst pipe floods the building. Four months dark — then the regulars bring them back.
The first "Soup for the Soul" charity night. Over $34,000 raised for local causes in the years since.
Twenty-five years. Same two people, same thirty seats, same scratch kitchen.
