Episode #202 - Noah Sandoval of Oriole and All Well

This week, we’re joined by Chef Noah Sandoval, the chef behind Chicago’s two-Michelin-starred Oriole and one of the more instinctive voices working in tasting menus today. An army brat with a Navy SEAL dad, Sandoval dropped out of high school, started washing dishes, and worked his way up through kitchens in Virginia and Chicago without much of a plan beyond getting better. He never really chased stars -- but they found him anyway. He joins us to talk about the early days, building Oriole from the ground up. Plus, an extended cameo from Chef Larry Feldmeier, to tout their new project, All Well, which just opened on April 22. We talk: cooking microwave cakes as a kid, learning under some of Chicago’s most intense kitchens, why he doesn’t overthink opportunities, balancing precision with instinct, what it actually takes to run a two-star restaurant, and why chasing a third might not be worth it -- and so much more.