Chef
Brendan Sodikoff
Restaurateur & Chef, Au Cheval
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
Known for
- Founder of Au Cheval diner
- Creator of Gilt Bar and Bavette's steakhouse
- Mixing hipster dining with nightlife trends in Chicago
i. Biography
Wood paneling, tufted leather, beef jus, and horseradish cream set the working vocabulary here: direct materials, visible comfort, and food built around appetite rather than explanation. In Brendan Sodikoff’s restaurants, the room carries as much weight as the plate — leather, polished bar surfaces, low light, and the kind of service rhythm that makes familiar dishes feel deliberate. At 4 Charles Prime Rib in New York, that vocabulary narrows to a low-and-slow roast edged in salt crust and served with beef jus and horseradish cream. The line runs cleanly from the Au Cheval burger in Chicago to a steakhouse register: comfort food handled with polish, proportion, and control.
Training and Lineage
Hospitality training at the West Village steakhouse gave Brendan Sodikoff an early grammar of room, plate, and service. The useful lesson in that setting was not novelty; it was alignment. A booth, a classic dish, lighting, pacing, and plate presentation all had to work together before the guest understood the place as complete. A Chicago portfolio built around Au Cheval, Gilt Bar, and Bavette’s made that grammar legible across different rooms. With Brendan Sodikoff as the restaurateur behind those addresses, the work favored clubby comfort, controlled indulgence, and recognizable dishes sharpened by atmosphere. The Au Cheval burger sits in that lineage as a clear marker: generous, exacting, and built for craving rather than ornament. The owner / restaurateur role at 4 Charles Prime Rib (since 2016) brought the training site back into the work as a contemporary steakhouse expression. In Brendan Sodikoff’s hands, the return is less biographical symmetry than trade continuity: the same concern for classic form, physical comfort, and appetite translated into a West Village room.
The Current Work
The founder and operator role at the New York, United States, restaurant, held by Sodikoff from 2016 to the present, is organized around elemental steakhouse pleasures. The Salt-crusted USDA prime rib is the defining center: roasted low and slow, then served with beef jus and horseradish cream. Its appeal is structural — crust, heat, rendered fat, jus, and sharp cream doing their jobs without diversion. The Chicago-born company is known for grilled and smoked foods, and this address keeps that meat-centered focus tight. Quality meat and steakhouse dishes provide the frame. The restaurant does not need a wide thesis; it works through a well-handled cut, the richness of jus, the lift of horseradish, and a room calibrated for dinners that feel private without losing occasion.
Signature
Signature dishes include Au Cheval burger and Salt-crusted USDA prime rib.
Acclaim
Recognition in this case is carried by dishes rather than ceremony. At 4 Charles Prime Rib, the Salt-crusted USDA prime rib, roasted low and slow and served with beef jus and horseradish cream, functions as a house marker. Alongside the American Cheeseburger with optional thick-cut bacon, it defines the restaurant through specific cravings: beef, crust, cream, bacon, heat, and the durable pleasure of a table organized around them.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Brendan
What does Brendan Sodikoff do now?
Brendan Sodikoff is chef at 4 Charles Prime Rib — Steakhouse.
Where did Brendan Sodikoff train or study?
Brendan Sodikoff trained at 4 Charles Prime Rib.
What is Brendan Sodikoff known for?
Known for the renowned burger from Au Cheval.
