Rosie Santos
Q What do you do?
“I’m a creative. I work as a freelance illustrator, caterer and teach kundalini yoga and philosophy.”
I know, it sounds like a lot! I thrive off of diversity and problem solving. I’m most comfortable on my toes and working with my hands making something beautiful for people to share. I love being in the kitchen with my favourite music playing surrounded by jars of labelled herbs and condiments, making delicious feasts for friends known and unknown to enjoy. I see all of this creative work as my way of making the world a more beautiful place to share and to be in…. In delicious and special ways.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
From a very young age, the kitchen has always been a haven. No matter where I visit in the world, the kitchen is a place I can connect with and create from. I remember as a child, sitting on our old roof smooshing feijoas, leaves, & flowers into perfume & at Christmas, making my own recipes for cakes or bottles of raspberry lemonade as gifts for family friends…
My mother is a chef, I grew up crumbing prawns, chopping rhubarb, setting our table with vintage silverware, flowers from other people's gardens, and helping her prepare for dinner, or catering functions, and as I grew older in the kitchen and the restaurants she’d run.
When I became vegan at 18, there wasn't really much exciting food out there - so I explored my curiosity and learned to make food in my own way. Growing up in Melbourne, I have always loved Asian food, I think I'm inspired heavily by Japanese cooking - the levels and depth of flavour combined with its simplicity and practicality.
After experiencing years with an ED, I turned to the 801010 diet (fruitarian) and entered the world of social media. My old account “smoothblender” gained a little following and became quite popular. I never thought I’d be a part of an online community. It’s through this account I began catering for yoga retreats, working as a personal and private chef for families around the world, and got very close to opening my own restaurant.
Since then I have spent most of my time living off-grid, still catering but cooking food over a fire, watching the moon rise over pine trees. During 2020, I began a pop-up food delivery service where I’d deliver healthy, colourful delicious food and tonics to people in isolation around Melbourne. It was a very unique moment in time, to peer into people’s lives through a very difficult period. It felt both empowering to do something in a world which felt like I had no control and it felt healing, to be able to support those who were experiencing emotional hardship and really struggling being alone or in an abusive relationship, or simply being tired of cooking all the time.
Food can be so much more than sustenance and this initiative during lockdown really showed me that. It’s love, its poetry, its connection - and I think people can really taste that in the food that I make. I try my very best to be as sustainable and thoughtful as possible while maintaining integrity, diversity, flavour, and texture in the food.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I stand out because I care. I care about people, the planet, integrity, and the quality of ingredients, and because I want to make a difference because I believe in creating a world that’s worth living and eating.
Q What are you working on right now?
I’m working on creating a cookbook “recipes for the ravenous” and bringing some epic dinner part series with performers and speakers to life. I’m searching for the perfect collaborators for this.
Q What’s your style?
My style is spontaneous, I thrive off of my initiative and drive to constantly create and push my own boundaries. My style is colourful but simple. I love having an array of condiments and I’m also a sucker for unusual taste combinations. But I’d say that texture is the most important and underrated thing in a dish.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Food
Q What is frustrating you right now?
The floods in the Northern rivers have stifled all business opportunity. People are really suffering. Living rurally means we aren’t as accessible to the city and resources. I’ve been dealing with lots of mold in the house (everyone has!!! The rain just isn’t STOPPING!) so this is distracting and I haven’t been able to focus on creating recipes for my book.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Marketing 100% social media… building client base
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I made my cookbook with my friend Charlie who passed away. It was going to be called “101 ways to be a hot bastard”.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I'd ask Yogananda to sit next to me for an hour, so that maybe I could breathe in some of his wisdom.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I’m looking for catering retreats, and private dinner parties, as a personal chef, I’d love to collaborate with people and create bespoke dining events in amazing locations.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
An ideal collaboration would be with CAP beauty, hosting events for them in Mallorca. I worked as a private chef at a retreat center in Costa Rica and made burgers out of leftover stir fry for a few guests, Ari Eisenstein and the owner of CLM and they said it was the best burger of their life.
Q: What is your rate?
For private cheffing, it’s $80ph For catering events it depends on the number of people and how many meals. For example, a retreat of 3 days for 15 people was $2000
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
hello@thegoodspace.love
Intro, date, concept, amount of people, dietary needs, and theme.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Rocio Graves — she is sweet, lives simply, is super creative, and makes delicious and divine recipes
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Dancing, music, nature, stories, and EATING.
This member profile was originally published in May 2022.