Matthew Gundlach

Sommelier/General Manager

Moto Restaurant

Matthew Gundlach admits that he was first attracted to the hospitality industry for the free golf, one of the perks he enjoyed while working at several private country clubs in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. What surprised him was his growing interest in spending time off the greens and in the dining room. Over the next decade, Matt committed himself to pursuing a career in the hospitality industry. Working at some of the finest restaurants and clubs in Madison allowed him to develop a finely tuned palette. It also allowed him to perfect his personable style of polished service. Taking his young, promising career to the next level, he moved to Chicago, having landed a position on the wine team at the esteemed Charlie Trotter’s.

While at Trotter’s, Gundlach was invaluable, working alongside some of the most talented wine professionals in the country. With regular on-site and off-site wine tastings, one-on-one meetings with wine producers and ongoing training at this four-star mecca, he elevated his wine skills to the highest standards. A mutual friend introduced him to Chef Homaro Cantu, who also once worked at Trotter’s. Chef Cantu recognized Gundlach’s passion and offered him the opportunity to join the moto team, spearheading the wine and beverage program. With Postmodern cuisine just beginning to emerge, Gundlach saw this new position as a challenging and thrilling offer – one that quickly paid off. Recognized for his potential, dedication and leadership skills, Cantu soon promoted him to General Manager.

As General Manager, and Director of Operations for the Moto Management Group, Matt rounds out the young, dynamic restaurant team. As sommelier and wine director, Gundlach constructs wine progressions to compliment Cantu’s tasting menus. These are best described as eclectic, cult wines from regions spanning the globe.

Gundlach is the first to say that, “There is something enjoyable in every glass of wine; it’s just up to the guest to experiment and have a little fun along the way.”

Dan

Dan Schwarzlose

Office Manager & Events Coordinator

A proud native of Evanston, Illinois, Dan first dined at Moto in November 2004 as an MFA candidate who was exploring the intersection of art and food; that meal completely changed his life. Since then, he has collaborated with Chef Cantu, and the Moto Team to create videos, edible books and poems, and multi-sensory, artistic dinner parties that have explored synesthesia, color-themed music, and a multi-disciplinary reinterpretation of the Futurist Cookbook (originally published in 1932) in honor of its 75th anniversary.

Dan also conceived and completed an independent study with Chef Cantu as part of his graduating MFA thesis in 2006. For years, he has traveled around the world with chefs Cantu and Roche to showcase Moto’s seminal culinary creations and to help facilitate special dinners and presentations at the James Beard House, Madrid Fusion Gastronomical Summit, and a victorious battle against Chef Masaharu Morimoto on Iron Chef America. Today, he is the very enthusiastic and friendly person who likely answers your call when you make a reservation for a private or group event at Moto or iNG Restaurant (ingrestaurant.com)

A classically-trained trumpet player who performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age 16, Dan studied music and literature at Northwestern University, and earned his MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media from Columbia College Chicago. When he is not working at Moto, he is passionately preserving and promoting traditional Cambodian music, which has been threatened with extinction since the 1970’s Khmer Rouge genocide. Dan’s favorite artists are Salvador Dalí, Antoni Gaudí, László Maholy-Nagy, Gustav Mahler, Dizzy Gillespie, James Brown, Ros Sereysothea, Björk…and Homaro Cantu.

Miranda Elliot

Wine Director/Floor Manager

Moto Restaurant

When Miranda started her senior year of college at Columbia University, she started to wonder what could she do with a B.A. in Classical Studies. A career as a sommelier may not seem like the obvious next step, but for Miranda, a girl who grew up going to Chicago restaurants with her family, returning home to her restaurant family felt natural.

Her college ability to cram a bunch of seemingly random information in her head came in handy while studying for the Court of Master Sommeliers sommelier certification exams, of which she has passed the first two levels and is currently studying for the third level.

When looking for wines for the Moto progression, she seeks wine with a story, whether that be the story of the soil in which it’s grown, the winemakers’ stories of creating the wine or the stories shared by people enjoying the wine. Through the weekly wine classes she teaches the staff, she hopes to provide a place for staff to discover just how wide the world of wine is, while also realizing what wines inspire them to learn more.

Carolyn Coppolo

Sous Chef

Moto Restaurant

Carolyn was raised in an Irish-Italian family right outside of Cleveland, Ohio, so food and eating always played an important role in her life. Her mother would often use her, and her three siblings as guinea pigs for new recipes, using exotic ingredients such as cumin and curry powder (A huge step for a typical Midwest family.)

After some time at an ice cream shop and a privately owned coffee house, Carolyn landed her first professional kitchen job at a local organic restaurant, focusing on vegan and vegetarian cuisine.

Shortly after high school, she entered the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, gaining her associates in Culinary Arts,’07, and bachelors in Hospitality Management,’09.

In August 2010, Carolyn found herself in Chicago, the center of modern cuisine, standing in the kitchen of Moto Restaurant. There, she worked her way from Garde Manger, then upstairs to be a lead server and bartender, before returning to the kitchen and completing each and every savory station the restaurant had to offer.

Through her two year journey at Moto, Carolyn has been able to share their vision of sourcing the best local ingredients obtainable. She has taken her time to truly learn and understand the importance of supporting local farmers and communities.

Carolyn would love to invite you to experience all that the Moto family has to offer, and encourages all of our guests to prepare themselves for an incredible journey through flavor, style and technique.

Claire Crenshaw

Executive Pastry Chef

Moto Restaurant

Growing up in Flagstaff, Arizona Claire never imagined herself becoming a pastry chef. She has fond memories of baking cinnamon rolls with her grandmother when she was very young and even playing pretend bakery with her mother’s tubberware, pots, and pans.

Entering high school Claire followed in her brother’s footsteps, and enrolled in a basic culinary class. Her chef instructor noticed that Claire had a knack for cooking, and mentioned that she should continue onto the advanced culinary classes, in which Claire responded with an “Okay.”

For the next 3 years Claire competed in multiple team and individual competitions where she was awarded scholarships to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. There she was able to focus her attention on the science, and techniques that all pastry is based around. Graduating in May 2007 with an Associates of Science degree with a focus on baking and pastry, Claire was ready to get to work.

Shortly thereafter Claire moved to Charleston, South Caroilna, where she worked at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. There she was introduced to the vast branches of resort employeement. Trained in all aspects of banquet, room service, fine dining and over night baking, Claire was working around the clock to develop her skills.

After 2 years of southern living, Claire moved to Chicago in August 2007 was hired in late October as the Assistant pastry chef at a small brasserie in Old Town. After her first week she was promoted to head pastry chef, which allowed her to start developing her own style of food.

After a short year and a half at the brasserie, Claire followed the lead chef to the resaurant Quince, formerly Trio. Quince was the opening Claire truly needed to branch out and start a name for herself in Chicago. Her work at Quince led Claire to her Assistant Pastry Chef position at TRU. Once again she was promoted to the Head Pastry Chef position just a mear 2 weeks into her employeement.

After 2 years at TRU, Claire was asked to join the pastry team at moto, and with a request like that who could say no? Happily, Claire agreed and joined the premiere team of molecular geniuses in Chicago. Her excitement and passion for desserts pushes her to break the mold and not to be afraid of trying something new. She encourages you to stop by moto soon to find out what sweet delights she is rolling out with next.

Richard Farina

Chef de Cuisine

Moto Restaurant

Richard “Richie” Farina began his career as a pizza maker. During this two year span, Richie also honed his skills by catering with a family friend. Seeking a bigger challenge, Chef Farina decided to enroll at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island to obtain a Bachelor’s in Culinary Arts. With Chef Farina’s help, the school won the National College Ice Carving Championship 3 years in a row.

After working in several top restaurants in Boston, Chef Farina sought out a new home, and a bigger challenge. Off to Chicago he went and landed a job with Moto Restaurant in April 2008. In just two short years, Chef Farina worked all possible stations at Moto Restaurant including every front of house position available. In time, he was groomed as the restaurant’s sous chef.

In 2009, Chef Farina was one of four characters on a nationally syndicated television show for Discovery Networks, entitled Future Food, which highlighted the whimsical creations and personalities of Moto Restaurant. As one of four lead characters on Future Food, Chef Farina gained national recognition as one of the most creative talents in the restaurant world. Chef Farina’s work has reached hundreds of national television and print outlets including The Travel Channel’s No Reservations, The Today Show, CNN’s Next List, The New York Times and many others.

Recently, Chef Farina’s hard work was rewarded with the title of Chef de Cuisine at Moto Restaurant. He was also a featured contestant on the 9th season of the hit Bravo television program Top Chef. Richie describes his experience at Moto as, “By far the craziest and most fun place I have ever worked. I am happy to call this place my home.”

Chef Homaro Cantu is blazing the way into the new era of Postmodern cuisine. Heralded as one of America’s most daring chefs, Chef Cantu pushes the limits of known taste, texture and technique in a stunning futuristic fashion at Moto.

A scientist at heart, Cantu is driven by insatiable curiosity and endless possibilities. It is then fair to say that the same enthusiasm that drove Cantu to dismantle his father’s lawnmower multiple times and chomp on $5, $10 and $20 dollar bills as a young boy still consumes him. Described as a Techno Chef” or a “Real life Willy Wonka”, he brushes these labels off and merely calls himself a cook when asked. If you delve a little deeper you will learn that this young, talented chef is aiming to shatter the rules surrounding the table by introducing new technologies into the kitchen.
His goal: to entice 21st century diners to embrace unimaginable edible creations.

Make no mistake, Chef Cantu has not lost sight of what brings us all to the dinner table – great tasting food. While guests may be positively shell shocked with some of the mind boggling creations at Moto, rest assured this young chef can cook. Having grown-up in Portland, Oregon, Cantu graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. He then worked his way up the ranks in nearly 50 kitchens on the West Coast before moving to Chicago. He moved to Chicago to work at Charlie Trotter’s and spent four years there, and earned the title of Sous Chef before leaving to open Moto.

To dine at Moto is to gain a glimpse of the inner workings of this culinary prodigy’s mind and the future of gastronomy. Offering a 15 course tasting menu, Cantu stretches the imagination and takes you on a culinary adventure from the very first bite of your menu. Homaro prints the evening’s offerings on edible paper as functional and delicious menus that assume many final forms on the plate such as risotto, alphabet soup, lime margarita, and a Vietnamese spring roll.

This type of out-of-the-box thinking touches the entire dining experience – sometimes literally. One of his many inventions for which domestic and foreign patent applications are pending, is his polymer oven. A perfectly self-contained, three-inch, opaque box made of super insulating polymer. It is brought to 350 degrees before a raw piece of fish is placed inside. The box is then delivered to the table where it cooks right before the guest’s very eyes.

While your experience at Moto is sure to expand one’s mind and palette, Cantu is not blazing new culinary trails for shock value alone, but rather to change the way that people perceive and eat food. He views Moto as his laboratory and tests new technologies in the kitchen daily. Scientific elements and equipment such as a centrifuge and a hand-held ion particle gun make regular appearances in the Moto kitchen. Cantu was proudly the first chef to zap food with a class IV laser, a cooking technique he unveiled in Spain in January 2006. With such lofty goals in mind and an impressive track record, it’s hard to imagine what will be served up next at Moto.

As Cantu modestly explains, “Gastronomy has to catch up to the evolution in technology, and I’m just helping that process along.”