Chef
Sean Sinclair
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
i. Biography
Coming Up
Formal training at Le Cordon Bleu gave Sean Sinclair the base for a career built through kitchens with different demands, from ownership to executive leadership. Born and raised in Tijeras, he carried a New Mexico point of view into that training and into the rooms that followed, with an eye toward region, season, and the practical pressures of contemporary dining in Albuquerque and beyond. The line through his résumé shows the range expected of a working chef moving between high-volume service, ownership, and executive responsibility. At The Inn at Little Washington, Virginia, Sinclair worked as Sous Chef, a post that required precision and pace. At Bar Castaneda in Las Vegas, New Mexico, he served as chef/owner, taking on both execution and the identity of the restaurant itself. He later worked as Executive Chef at Farm and Table in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before becoming Executive Chef at Level 5 Rooftop Restaurant at Hotel Chaco in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he held that role until 2025.
Where They Are Now
The throughline is New Mexico, even when the work pulled elsewhere. Le Cordon Bleu provided the formal grounding; The Inn at Little Washington, United States, supplied high-level kitchen discipline; and Bar Castaneda in Las Vegas, United States, added the perspective of ownership. Sinclair’s path never detached from the state that formed him, and that continuity gives weight to the authority he brought back to Albuquerque.
Honors
Sean Sinclair has received Edible Magazine New Mexico Best Chef Greater New Mexico. Sean Sinclair was named a James Beard Foundation Best Chef - Southwest semifinalist, a recognition that placed his work in a broader regional field. He also holds Best Chef Greater New Mexico and Best Restaurant Greater New Mexico, awards that reflect standing within the state’s dining community rather than outside it. Taken together, those honors follow the structure of his career: formal training at Le Cordon Bleu, service in a demanding kitchen at The Inn at Little Washington, Virginia, ownership at Bar Castaneda in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and executive leadership at Farm and Table and Level 5 Rooftop Restaurant at Hotel Chaco in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The pattern is clear enough without embellishment: a chef grounded in Tijeras, working outward from New Mexico and back into it.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Sean
Where did Sean Sinclair train or study?
Sean Sinclair trained at Le Cordon Bleu.
What recognition has Sean Sinclair received?
Best Chef - Southwest semifinalist (2023).
