Episode Details

You can taste the love someone puts into their cooking. And the opposite is true too.

Norman Fenton is the Michelin starred, James Beard nominated chef and co-owner of Cariño, a modern Mexican restaurant in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood that is, in every sense, a love letter. A love letter to his wife Karina and their sons. A love letter to her family in Quintana Roo. A love letter to Mexican cuisine, culture, and the Latino community that has shaped his entire career and life.

In this episode, host Sarah Perkins sits down with Norman for a conversation that traces an extraordinary arc: From a 14 year old in Detroit cooking purely for a paycheck, to a transformative scallop dish that revealed food could be art, to the demanding kitchens of Alinea Group and five and a half intense years at Schwa under Michael Carlson, to a spontaneous decision to drive his car from Chicago to Tulum, Mexico rather than fly it abroad, which changed the entire trajectory of his life.

That decision led him to WILD, to his now wife Karina, to a years long immigration process he describes candidly and emotionally, and ultimately to Cariño in Chicago, where nearly every single object inside the restaurant, from the chandelier to the place mats, was handmade by artisans Norman personally knows and has visited in Mexico. Nothing in the restaurant was ordered. Everything was sourced directly, with intention, and with the explicit goal of putting money directly into the hands of the families who made it.

Norman also opens up about Cariño's ongoing commitment to Latinos Progresando, a Chicago nonprofit focused on immigration support for the Latino community, through their monthly Tacos and Friends guest chef taco omakase dinners, which have raised nearly $40,000 in two and a half years. And he shares an exciting first look at Molino Los Hermanos, a forthcoming tortilleria and casual sister concept opening at the end of summer right next door to Cariño.

In this episode, we cover:

• Growing up in a non-food family in Detroit where special occasions meant Red Lobster and Morton’s Steakhouse
• Starting in restaurant kitchens at 14 purely to earn money
• The hazelnut crusted scallop dish from mentor chef Derick Watson that changed everything
• Years at Andiamo learning real in-house butchery and pasta production
• Becoming a de facto executive chef in his early 20s and learning leadership the hard way
• Deciding to leave Detroit for a Michelin market and choosing Chicago 
• Staging and working at The Aviary and The Office under Alinea Group
• Experiencing kitchen toxicity firsthand and the moment that changed his trajectory
• His first ever Michelin starred meal at Schwa and immediately falling in love with it
• Five and a half transformative years at Schwa under chef Michael Carlson
• Finding his culinary voice through nostalgia, emotion, and personal memory
• The decision to drive his car to Tulum,