{"id":28584,"date":"2024-06-07T10:15:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T17:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/?p=28584"},"modified":"2025-08-01T05:24:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T12:24:34","slug":"influential-peoplerunning-the-extra-milenikita-khandherias-recipe-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/influential-peoplerunning-the-extra-milenikita-khandherias-recipe-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Running the Extra Mile"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Unwrap the new year with us.<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Enjoy our premium, unique selections from TrooRa marketplace<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tInfluential People\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Running the Extra Mile<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Written by: Cristina Deptula<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Nikita Khandheria's Success Recipe<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nikita Khandheria's Recipe for Success<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Coast to Coast: How Ditas Founder manages to run a successful restaurant while juggling college and cross-country flights.\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Among the rising wave of young restaurant owners, Sausalito\u2019s Nikita Khandheria starts each day with at least a three-mile (4.8 km) run. She says that\u2019s what she needs to release her competitive energy.<\/p>

\u201cOur team notices a difference in me after I\u2019ve had my run,\u201d she says. \u201cThey remind me to go get my exercise, as I\u2019m much easier to deal with then.\u201d<\/p>

An athlete since childhood, Khandheria suggests that if she hadn\u2019t opened Ditas in coastal Sausalito, she might have played rugby professionally. She currently enjoys climbing walls and treadmill jogs, taking phone calls and listening to podcasts while moving her body.\u00a0<\/p>

Khandheria approaches business with the mindset of an athlete on the field or in the gym, always ready to pivot with changing conditions and determined to keep improving her performance. As her personal aphorism goes, \u201cExcellence is a moving target.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nikita Khandheria's Restaurateurs<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Early Excellence<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A Women-Owned Restaurant Fuelled By Imagination <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Unlike most restaurateurs, Khandheria is in her early twenties, still finishing college on the East Coast, and flying across the country weekly to Sausalito to check on Ditas.<\/p>

\u201cI make that work by doing everything on the plane: reading, writing, studying. I can do everything except working out on the plane,\u201d says Khandheria.\u00a0<\/p>

Though young, she\u2019s far from inexperienced: Khandheria began her career at age twelve in India, doing medical checkups at a clinic for rural women. As a teen, she attended law school in the United States, trying her first case in a San Francisco district court at age fifteen. She was attracted to dependency law as it provided opportunities for her to advocate for people and families.\u00a0<\/p>

Later, she was accepted to a dual degree program that, while quite prestigious, would take her away from her family for quite some time. Sad about not being able to see her as often, her dad brought her along to one of his business trips in India.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cOne morning, he had to go somewhere at 6:30,\u201d she remembers. \u201cI was annoyed that he\u2019d got me up so early, so while he was gone, I thought I\u2019d embarrass him by wandering the hotel and inserting myself into random conversations. I stepped into a room where some entrepreneurs were discussing restaurants, and I asked very good questions. The rest is history!\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Restaurateurs plates<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Restaurateurs plates<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Restaurateurs plates<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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From the Imagination to the Plate<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A self-described \u201cnerd and jock,\u201d Khandheria chose Ditas\u2019 location because it was one of the places where she and her dad would stop and brainstorm an imagined business plan for something that could be successful there.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, with coastal views,\u201d she says, \u201cbut also a bit secluded so the crowds aren\u2019t overwhelming and so that it\u2019s not competing with all of the other local restaurants.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Khandheria says that people come to eat at places that mean something to them and that she always wanted to build a community center as well as a restaurant. With Ditas, she believes she\u2019s done that, as the restaurant has many regulars whom she\u2019s gotten to know over time.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cPlenty of wonderful people come in here to eat,\u201d says Khandheria. \u201cAnd I love to hear their stories and learn from them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

She prides herself on building an impressive roster of culinary professionals, including a chef who has previously worked at The French Laundry. \u201cWhat\u2019s most important in the people who bring their skills to Ditas is competence and knowledge,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the ability to pivot and change direction based on customer feedback.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Ditas\u2019 staff changed their entire menu and concept after getting many requests from customers for different kinds of food. \u201cWe pride ourselves on saying yes to those we serve,\u201d says Khandheria.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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natural flavors of the food<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Inspired Pairings<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ditas\u2019 current concept is minimalistic, highlighting the natural flavors of the food.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWe offer comfort food that\u2019s recognizable, but we pair things up in combinations people haven\u2019t seen before but are delicious, such as grapefruit and scallops. We cook for our guests, not our egos,\u201d Khandheria says.\u00a0<\/p>

Her favorite food at Ditas is steak, as she\u2019s always loved steak. She also enjoys the duck tacos and the bread and butter even though she has celiac disease and shouldn\u2019t eat much bread. \u201cOur bread is worth getting sick for,\u201d she jokes.\u00a0<\/p>

Everything Ditas serves is locally grown except the protein, which they source from suppliers and try to make as sustainable as possible. Ditas also cooks with all parts of the food in order to minimize waste\u2014for example, turning carrot shavings into a delicious soup.\u00a0<\/p>

They also contribute to the San Francisco (SF) Bay Area community by making donations to the SF Zoo, theater companies, and the SF school district, and they hope to do more in the future.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ditas natural flavors of the food<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Next Steps\n<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKhandheria says her most important next step will be to continue to drill down on what she and Ditas do best: quality food and stellar customer service. She\u2019s also on her way to launching a new consumer food product line: Eria, taken from the last four letters of her last name. <\/span> \"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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TrooRa Magazine<\/p>\r\n

Words<\/p>\r\n

Cristina Deptula<\/p>\r\n

California, USA<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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SHOP<\/span><\/BR> \nTrooRa\nMarketplace<\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Baroque Pearl Earrings<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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$80.00 usd<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Archer Bag Copper Metallic<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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$265.00 usd<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Mini Trio Candle<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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$50.00 usd<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Archer Bag Blue Steel Metallic<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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$265.00 usd<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine dress shoes so comfortable that they rival your favorite sneakers. That’s the vision that the co-founders of Wolf & Shepherd\u2014Justin and Hope Schneider\u2014had when they embarked on a journey to transform the shoes we know and wear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":28588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[341],"tags":[42,338,349],"class_list":["post-28584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-influential-people","tag-featured","tag-memberpress-1","tag-web-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28584"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44438,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28584\/revisions\/44438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/troora.com\/team\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}