Sarah Grueneberg is an American chef who is

head chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef ...

and owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago. While

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead or The Lead may also refer to: Animal handling * Leash, or lead * Lead (leg), ...

at Spiaggia, she held a Michelin star for three years. In 2017, she was named the 2017 Best Chefs in the Great Lakes at the

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

s. Grueneberg came second in the ninth season of ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional ch ...

''; and she also appeared on the first season of ''

Iron Chef Gauntlet ''Iron Chef Gauntlet'' is a television series on Food Network that began airing on April 16, 2017. The series is a reboot of the ''Iron Chef'' and ''Iron Chef America'' series that gained popularity on Food Network and is hosted by Alton Brown, w ...

''.

Career

Sarah Grueneberg was brought up in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. She took an interest in cooking with her German grandparents. She graduated from

The Art Institute of Houston The Art Institute of Houston is a for-profit college in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Education Principle Foundation. Founded in 1965 as the Houston School of Commercial Art, the school joined The Art Institutes system of schools in 1978 and mov ...

in 2001 with an associate degree in applied science. Following graduation, she worked at Brennan's of Houston, becoming a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

in 2003. Grueneberg moved to join Spiaggia in 2005, under chef Tony Mantuano. She was promoted to purchasing sous chef in 2007, where she worked with

Missy Robbins Missy Robbins (born 1971) is an American chef who has held a Michelin star at two restaurants, and a contestant on season four of '' Top Chef Masters''. Robbins specializes in Italian cuisine and owns two Italian restaurants in Williamsburg, Brook ...

. Grueneberg was promoted to Chef di Cucina a year later, and in 2010 became executive chef. While she was running the kitchen at Spiaggia, it was awarded a Michelin star for three years in a row. Competing in series 9 of Bravo TV's ''

'', she finished in second place. Grueneberg opened her own restaurant, Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, in 2016. She had been planning it since 2013, with her friend Meg Sahs. The restaurant serves

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wave ...

. In 2017, she was nominated for the first time for a

in the category of Best Chef Great Lakes, and won the award. Also that year, she appeared on the television series ''

'' as one of the contestants. She also won the first episode of the television series ''

Beat Bobby Flay ''Beat Bobby Flay'' is an American cooking competition show on the Food Network. It features various chefs competing against Bobby Flay. The show is taped in front of a live audience. Format In the first round, two guests, often a celebrity che ...

, which'' aired on August 24, 2013.

References

External links

* * 1980s births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people American television chefs Food and drink award winners Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants People from Houston Top Chef contestants American women chefs 21st-century American women {{chef-stub