By DEREK REDD

WHEELING — After 13 years as the executive director of Sandscrest Conference Center, Sarah Lydick was ready for a change. What she really wanted to do was hearken back to her first love, the culinary arts.

She had studied the subject in Paris and wanted to put that knowledge to work in the Ohio Valley. So after more than a decade in administration, she became her own boss, opening Sarah’s On Main in Wheeling.

Since the restaurant’s doors opened in 2018, it has grown into one of the most popular in the area. And since that first day, Lydick has been happy charting her own path while continuing to learn and grow as a chef and a business owner.

When Lydick returned from culinary school in France, she realized she wasn’t ready for the late nights that life in a restaurant’s kitchen would offer. She started out as a private chef in Pittsburgh, but the commute became a burden. That led to the opportunity at Sandscrest.

“While I was there, I always wanted to have my own place, like a small family business,” she said. “And then I was always looking for the right property. And this one (with Sarah’s On Main) came along where we could renovate the apartment upstairs and so we went all in.”

Lydick and husband Rod renovated the former Lebanon Bakery to create a new restaurant. She admits that, while there weren’t the late nights she wanted to avoid, there were plenty of very early mornings at the start.

“I was doing everything,” she said. “I was laminating the dough and shaping my croissants and proofing the croissants and baking and all of that. And so I would start at 2 in the morning to have product ready to sell at 7.”

The system has evolved in the years since those first days, and now the mornings aren’t exactly that early. Now Lydick will wake up around 4:30 a.m., but that’s to either work out or get some work done on the computer. Then it’s down to the restaurant between 6:30 and 7 to start the day.

The evolution into a saner work schedule comes in part, Lydick said, from the people now working with her at Sarah’s On Main. The restaurant’s staff has made it so that Lydick no longer feels forced to handle so much on her own. She’s now able to manage others to keep the restaurant humming.

“It’s easy when I have really good people,” she said. “I think I’m really lucky to have really great employees that are interested and excited and talented and skilled to do the stuff that I need them to do.”

Lydick feels fortunate to have such a motivated staff. She enjoys the camaraderie and the collaboration. It’s often, she says, that the staff will be in the kitchen brainstorming ideas for new dishes. It’s days like that that make Sarah’s On Main a fun working environment.

That camaraderie isn’t just limited to the kitchen, Lydick said. She sees that spirit throughout the Ohio Valley. It’s one of the reasons she enjoys the opportunity to own a restaurant in this community so much. The people in the community come together to make sure it’s a success.

“One of the things I didn’t really expect but has been so amazing is just how a community can really support you and push you forward and help out,” she said. “This community has just been unbelievable and helpful.”