La Resdora was founded in 2015 in Oakland, California, by Siddhi and Patrick.
Siddhi grew up in California, and Patrick grew up in Italy. We have been building our home and family together for the last 10 years. We currently live in Europe with our two kids, bringing the whole team along for our culinary adventures.
Patrick has spent his career in fashion, apparel, and luxury goods. Siddhi has been in digital marketing and strategy. But we started our relationship over food and cooking. We love that cooking helps you get lost in the present. We show our love for friends and family through cooking, and we believe food helps us deepen our connections to ourselves and to each other.
When hosting, our philosophy is to be radically authentic. Bring people into your funny little chaotic world, make yourself vulnerable, spend too much money on ingredients, too much time on cooking, just for the hell of it and the moments that come out of it. We always open the bottle of wine. We always get that special cheese. We love the sense of togetherness that food brings, and we love creating generosity and community at the table.
And the name? Who was "La Resdora"?
In Emiligia-Romagna (where Patrick grew up), she was the head of the kitchen. Her cooking skills were constantly improved through critical discussion. She was competitive about making the best version of a dish, but stayed within the established culinary tradition. And, through her cooking skills, she emerged as a guardian of the region's rich traditional cuisine.
We aim to only make products that would meet a Resdora's approval.
Resdora info: 2008 : "Food, Family and Tradition in North Italy" in David Berris, David Sutton, eds., The Restaurants Book: ethnographies of where people eat
