Sarah Grueneberg is an American chef who is head chef and owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago. While executive chef at

Spiaggia Spiaggia was an Italian restaurant in Chicago on Michigan Avenue at Oak Street. After 37 years on the "Magnificent Mile," Spiaggia closed permanently, having never reopened following its COVID-19 closure in March 2020.Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

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 awar ...

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 che ...

''; and she also appeared on the first season of '' Iron Chef Gauntlet''.

Career

Sarah Grueneberg was brought up in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She took an interest in cooking with her German grandparents. She graduated from The Art Institute of Houston in 2001 with an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. Th ...

applied science Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...

. Following graduation, she worked at Brennan's of Houston, becoming a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

in 2003. Grueneberg moved to join

Spiaggia Spiaggia was an Italian restaurant in Chicago on Michigan Avenue at Oak Street. After 37 years on the "Magnificent Mile," Spiaggia closed permanently, having never reopened following its COVID-19 closure in March 2020.executive chef Missy Robbins. 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 The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

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 w ...

. 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 '' Iron Chef Gauntlet'' as one of the contestants. She also won the first episode of the television series '' Beat Bobby Flay, 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