Our Story

Since her childhood cooking with her grandparents on their ranch in Victoria, Texas, Sarah Grueneberg knew she was destined to work in the culinary world. Originally from Houston, 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. During her tenure as Executive Chef, Spiaggia was awarded one Michelin Star for three consecutive years.

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 has traveled throughout Italy, Asia, Europe and the U.S., which has inspired her culinary approach of “following the food” and truly understanding “the dish” by knowing the people and culture that created it.

In 2017, Grueneberg received her first James Beard Foundation Award for “Best Chef: Great Lakes.” Grueneberg has been a competitor and finalist on Bravo’s “Top Chef: Texas” and Food Network’s “Iron Chef Gauntlet.” 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. In April 2018, Grueneberg premiered the new WTTW – PBS Chicago show “Dishalicious,” where she serves as host and invites three guest chefs, and friends, to create dinner party dishes in front of a live studio audience.

Grueneberg is Chef/Co-owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago’s West Loop, which she opened in November 2015 with business partner and long-time friend Meg Sahs. The restaurant has received acclaimed reviews from various outlets, including three out of four stars by The Chicago Tribune. In 2016, Monteverde received accolades including: one of Food & Wine’s “America’s Best Restaurants,” a top 50 finalist in Bon Appetit’s “Best New Restaurants” list, Eater’s "21 Best New Restaurants in America,” GQ’s “12 Best New Restaurants,” Eater Chicago’s "Restaurant of the Year” in the 2016 Eater Awards, 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 “America’s 38 Essential Restaurants" by Eater and then awarded “Restaurant of the Year” in the 2018 Jean Banchet Awards.

A native of La Grange, IL, Bailey Sullivan is the executive chef of the award-winning Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, a contestant on Season 22 of Bravo’s Top Chef and she was named a Rising Star by Starchefs in 2021.

Bailey was born into the hospitality industry and has always known she wanted to cook. Her dad has owned Goldyburgers, a storied burger joint and beer garden, for over four decades, however, it’s not where Bailey got her start in the kitchen.

While earning her bachelor’s degree from Kendall College, Bailey interned at the two-Michelin-starred, Coastal New England-inspired restaurant Acadia, where she worked both savory and pastry before joining the kitchen at Yusho Logan Square, where she became captivated by Asian ingredients, flavors and the art of ramen. Bailey made the most of the restaurant’s monthly Ramen Battles, which allowed her to meet and cook with some of the city’s best chefs—most notably, Sarah Grueneberg, chef/owner of Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio.

After graduation, Bailey worked at the Michelin-starred Parachute for a year before pursuing her deep-rooted love of noodles and a desire to learn the intricacies and art of hand-made pasta and regional Italian cuisine under Grueneberg, the James Beard Award-winning chef and Bravo’s Top Chef finalist on season nine.

Bailey immediately fell in love with Italian ingredients and sensibilities, and over the course of more than eight years, she has worked her way up the kitchen from line cook, sous chef, purchasing sous, executive sous and chef di cucina before being promoted in February 2025 to executive chef. Known for embracing seasonal produce and global flavors with an Italian hand, Bailey has earned a reputation for embracing the "atipica" side of Italian cuisine—blending tradition with bold, whimsical twists.