The Land of Enchantment has great food and one New Mexico-born chef wants to see local restaurants receive high honors. “My family’s been in New Mexico for a long time, somewhere between like the 11 and 13th generation,” Sean Sinclair said.

Chef Sean Sinclair has built his culinary career on his passion for New Mexico and extensive experience leading kitchens across the U.S. over the past decade. Now, he’s bringing that home to Albuquerque.

“I’ve always had my eye on this restaurant and Chaco Hotel is truly just like a special place to be. It’s a beautiful setting, it’s serene. It’s this hotel definitely has a vibe that is hard to match,” Sinclair said.

Sean Sinclair is the new executive chef at Level 5 restaurant in Hotel Chaco. Heritage Hotels and Resorts, Inc., the largest independent hotel group in the state, owns the restaurant and hotel.

As the new executive chef, Sinclair wants to stay true to the identity of Hotel Chaco. He also wants to focus his new menu on Native American and Indigenous ingredients.

“They were modernists of their time. You know, kind of prehistory modernists. So I want to celebrate that by featuring as many local ingredients as possible,” Sinclair said. Ingredients that comprise one of his signature dishes. “Duck confit tamales with our duck breast. We call it the duo of duck here,” Sinclair said. “We want to use every bit, you know? So we save all our vegetable trimmings, we save all of our animal pieces, flavor and all the goodness from it.”

Sinclair hopes he and other chefs in the state help put New Mexico’s culinary scene on the map. He wants to attract prestigious awards, like Michelin Stars.

“It would be the goal of a lifetime to obtain my own star. Or even be recognized by a big Bib Gourmand. I mean, that’s, I think that’s every chef,” Sinclair said. With local chefs representing the Land of Enchantment on the national stage, Sinclair is excited to give New Mexican cuisine the recognition it deserves.

“I love this city. And to try to be thoughtful about creating a type of cuisine that’s really fitting to Chaco, to Albuquerque, to New Mexico, is really important to me,” Sinclair said.