Sarah Grueneberg

Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio

Sarah Grueneberg is the James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef/partner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago’s West Loop and author of Listen To Your Vegetables.

Since her childhood cooking with her grandparents on their ranch in Victoria, Texas, Houston born-and-raised Grueneberg knew she was destined to work in the culinary world.

After graduating from culinary school in 2001, she started...

Sarah Grueneberg is the James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef/partner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago’s West Loop and author of Listen To Your Vegetables.

Since her childhood cooking with her grandparents on their ranch in Victoria, Texas, Houston born-and-raised Grueneberg knew she was destined to work in the culinary world.

After graduating from culinary school in 2001, she started her first career-changing job with a position at the iconic Brennan’s of Houston and by 2003 was named the restaurant’s youngest female sous chef. Grueneberg’s ongoing travels have taken her throughout Italy, Asia, Europe and the U.S., inspiring her culinary approach of “following the food” and truly understanding “the dish” by knowing the people and culture that created it.

Grueneberg moved to Chicago in 2005 to join the team at the award-winning Spiaggia under the leadership of Tony Mantuano. Beginning as a line cook, she quickly rose the ranks to Chef di Cucina in 2008 and then Executive Chef in 2010.

Grueneberg opened Monteverde in November 2015 and in 2017, she received the James Beard Foundation Award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes” and was a semifinalist for “Outstanding Chef” in the 2019 & 2020 awards.

Monteverde has earned acclaimed reviews from various outlets, including being named Chicago Magazine’s #1 Restaurant in the 50 Best Restaurants list of 2024. Monteverde earned a three-star review from The Chicago Tribune and in 2016, it was named one of Food & Wine’s “America’s Best Restaurants.” Other accolades include a top 50 finalist position in Bon Appetit’s “Best New Restaurants,” being named to Eater’s “21 Best New Restaurants in America,” GQ’s “12 Best New Restaurants,” Eater Chicago’s “Restaurant of the Year,” the “Worth the Wait” award in Chicago Tribune Dining Awards and named one of Chicago Magazine’s “15 Best New Restaurants.” In 2017, Monteverde was named one of “America’s 38 Essential Restaurants” by Eater and then awarded “Restaurant of the Year” in the 2018 Jean Banchet Awards.

Grueneberg has been a competitor and finalist on Bravo’s “Top Chef: Texas” and Food Network’s “Iron Chef Gauntlet” and was featured in the Chicago episode of “Somebody Feed Phil.” She has also been named a “Rising Star Chef” by Chicago Social magazine in 2009 and 2016 and Eater Chicago’s “Chef of the Year” in the 2011 Eater Awards. Grueneberg served as one of the James Beard Foundation chefs at the American Airlines Flagship Lounge at Chicago O’Hare Airport and in 2025, she joined the Culinary Collective by The Centurion Lounge with American Express.

Grueneberg is a frequent speaker at industry events, including Utility Show, Cherry Bombe Jubilee and the American Express Restaurant Trade Program at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.

Grueneberg published her first cookbook, Listen To Your Vegetables, in 2022. A long-time champion of her peers and the food and beverage industry, she is a member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the Southern Foodways Alliance and serves as a Board Member of Southern Smoke Foundation.