Weekend with Belinda Chang & Chef Sarah Grueneberg
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Join us for a weekend with ames Beard Award Winners Belinda Chang & Chef Sarah Grueneberg!
- Cocktail Class - Through the Lens of Vegetables
- Saturday, June 24th at 1pm
- $55 per person
- Four-Course Dinner With Beverage Pairings at Marée
- Saturday, June 24th
- 7:00pm Cocktails & Meet the Chef, 7:30pm Dinner
- $230 per person
- Brunch at Pink Beach Club
- Sunday, June 25th from 11am - 3pm
- $65 per person
To learn more and reserve your spot, call 441-293-1666 or email bda.events@thelorenhotel.com.
Belinda Chang is a sommelier, an experiential storyteller, and lifestyle expert. She is the only bipoc woman to win a James Beard award in a drinks category in 2011 and was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as the “global virtual wine experience guru” in 2019. Belinda specializes in making epic moments everyday occurrences for everyone. From your first glass of Champagne and fist bump of caviar to the final mignardises with a splash of Sauternes, Belinda warmly invites you into her circle of approachable luxury at home and abroad, irl and virtually.
Over the course of her lauded decades-long career in food, wine and restaurants, Belinda has made a name for herself as a sought-after sommelier, host and on-camera personality. Prior to entering the life of a small business owner, Belinda managed the legendary 26,000-bottle cellar at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, the wine lists at Laurent Gras’ The Fifth Floor in San Francisco, and Danny Meyer’s The Modern in New York City. Belinda returned to Chicago in 2015 to serve as Managing Partner and Wine Director of the splashy steakhouse Maple and Ash before setting off to create her bootstrap, start-up experience production company: Belinda Chang.
Since founding her company in 2016, Chang has created and produced some of the wine and food world’s buzziest irl and virtual events — the who’s who annual James Beard Awards Pre-Prom, which is dedicated to empowering and pampering women in the restaurant industry, her splashy annual Pool Party during the Food and Wine Aspen Classic, and Virtual Boozy Brunch to support furloughed service people and small business owners during the pandemic. From 2019 to 2021, Chang’s virtual production company, studio 8h productions, created, hosted and produced over 300 virtual experiences for Fortune 500 clients and delivered bespoke experience boxes to their guests in 12 countries. Today, Belinda continues to innovate and work to connect, comfort, and create moments and memories on screen and in person for global audiences.
In addition to creating and hosting live experiences, Belinda is a regular fixture in global media outlets like The New York Times, Bloomberg, Food and Wine, The Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune among many others. Belinda is also a published wine writer and has written about wine in cookbooks, newspapers and magazines (Ten Speed Press, Random House, Gourmet Special Editions, The Atlantic). Chang has appeared as a drinks, cheese and lifestyle expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business, MSNBC and many other broadcast stations.
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 currently Chef/Partner 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.