“Food is visually appealing,” said Chef Sandoval. “It involves all of your senses. The ingredients are your canvas and the varying flavors and colors allow you to paint your picture.”
Upon graduation in 1995, he moved to San Francisco to pursue his love for all things culinary, where he enrolled in the California Culinary Academy. His first restaurant position came at Moose’s, a North Beach favorite where Sandoval learned to prepare seasonal American cuisine with local, small-farm ingredients, a passion that would develop Sandoval’s cooking style. It was here Sandoval would meet one of his influential mentors, Brian Whitmere, who was executive chef at the restaurant at the time. After two and a half years at Moose’s, Sandoval left to help open Jianna restaurant.