Founders & Entrepreneurs

Brendan Sodikoff Net Worth 2026: Hogsalt Founder, Chicago

No reliable net worth exists for Brendan Sodikoff. Here is what is documented about Hogsalt Hospitality, his training and the group's 2026 expansion.

Brendan Sodikoff
Full name
Brendan Sodikoff
Profession
Restaurateur, founder of Hogsalt Hospitality
Nationality
American
Source of wealth
Hogsalt Hospitality restaurants
In this article
  1. What is Brendan Sodikoff's net worth?
  2. Where the money comes from: Hogsalt Hospitality
  3. Career timeline
  4. Recent changes (2025–2026)
  5. Early life and education
  6. Personal life
  7. Age, height and weight
  8. Why there is no reliable figure

No reputable outlet has published a net worth for Brendan Sodikoff, the Chicago restaurateur behind Hogsalt Hospitality, Au Cheval and the New York steakhouse 4 Charles Prime Rib. The $8 million figure and $250,000 salary that appear online have no source. His wealth is tied to a privately held restaurant group that has grown from one bar in 2010 to more than a dozen concepts in Chicago, New York and, from 2026, Miami and Nashville.

What is Brendan Sodikoff's net worth?

Forbes, Bloomberg and Celebrity Net Worth do not estimate his fortune, and Hogsalt does not publish revenue or say who else owns a share. Any single figure is a guess. What the food and business press has documented is the size and reach of the group he built, summarized below.

Brendan Sodikoff
Brendan Sodikoff

Where the money comes from: Hogsalt Hospitality

Sodikoff's income comes from the restaurants, bars and cafes Hogsalt owns and runs. Restaurant Business named him to its Power 20 list in 2016, when his Chicago concepts included:

  • Gilt Bar – a craft-cocktail bar in River North, his first project, opened in February 2010.
  • Maude's Liquor Bar – his second restaurant, which drew weekend waits of three hours or more soon after opening.
  • Au Cheval – an upscale diner whose cheeseburger Bon Appétit called the best in America.
  • Bavette's Bar & Boeuf – a steakhouse.
  • Doughnut Vault, Green Street Smoked Meats, High Five Ramen, Sawada Coffee, C.C. Ferns and The California Clipper, a historic Humboldt Park lounge he took over.
  • 3 Arts Club Café – a cafe inside the Restoration Hardware gallery on the Gold Coast, the first such partnership for RH.
  • Small Cheval – a burger-and-fries spinoff that grew out of the lines at Au Cheval. By 2024 it was planning its ninth location.

In New York, Hogsalt runs an Au Cheval and 4 Charles Prime Rib, a West Village steakhouse that opened in 2016 and became one of the city's hardest reservations, according to The Real Deal.

Career timeline

  • Teenage years: growing up skateboarding and surfing in San Diego, he became fascinated with bakeries on a family trip to Vancouver and Seattle at 15 and took up artisan bread baking.
  • Early training: cooked under chef Martin Woesle at Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe, California, then spent four years with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, and trained at the Ritz in Paris and with Alain Ducasse, per a 2011 Newcity profile.
  • Lettuce Entertain You: worked as a creative development officer for Richard Melman's Chicago restaurant group, which he credits with teaching him how to run a successful restaurant.
  • 2010: after six or seven years searching for an affordable space, bought the business in the former Aigre Doux space and opened Gilt Bar.
  • 2011–2016: opened Maude's, Doughnut Vault, Au Cheval and a string of other concepts; opened 4 Charles Prime Rib in New York in 2016.
  • 2024: confirmed plans to revive The Freeze, a Logan Square ice cream stand, alongside a Small Cheval.

Read Article: Brent Beshore Net Worth

Recent changes (2025–2026)

  • Miami: in December 2025 The Real Deal reported that 4 Charles Prime Rib planned a Miami Design District location in the former Swan space at 90 NE 39th Street, targeting 2026.
  • Nashville: in March 2026 What Now Nashville and The Tennessean reported that Au Cheval will open in a mixed-use development in 12 South, with about 4,435 square feet indoors plus a patio, in late fall 2026. The Tennessean said Sodikoff is partnering with restaurateur Sam Fox on the project.

Early life and education

Sodikoff spent his teenage years in San Diego. His culinary education came from kitchens rather than a Chicago culinary school; the earlier claim that he holds a bachelor's degree and a culinary master's has no source and has been removed, as has the line about being born into a family of entrepreneurs.

Personal life

The earlier version of this page said Sodikoff is married to "Jeff Rapp." We found no source for that and removed it. He keeps his private life out of the press, and no reliable outlet names a spouse or partner. Interviews with him focus on food, design and the restaurants themselves. The claims that he owns the Ace Hotel Chicago and is a partner in Indochino were also unsupported and have been removed.

Age, height and weight

His date of birth is not public, and no reliable source gives it. No reliable source lists his height or weight; the old figures (5 feet 5 inches, 76 kg) were removed.

See Also: Brenden Tieger Net Worth

Why there is no reliable figure

Restaurant groups are rarely valued in public. Hogsalt has not disclosed sales, profits, investors or debt. A group with this many busy, high-priced concepts is clearly a substantial business, but without financial disclosure no honest dollar figure can be put on Sodikoff's share.

Frequently asked questions

What is Brendan Sodikoff's net worth?

No reputable outlet has published a net worth for Brendan Sodikoff; the $8 million figure online has no source. He founded Hogsalt Hospitality, the private group behind Au Cheval, Gilt Bar, Bavette's, Small Cheval and 4 Charles Prime Rib, which does not disclose revenue or ownership.

What is Brendan Sodikoff's yearly income?

His income is not public. Earlier claims of $250,000 a year had no source. As owner of Hogsalt Hospitality, he earns from a group of restaurants in Chicago and New York that is expanding to Miami and Nashville in 2026.

What restaurants does Brendan Sodikoff own?

Through Hogsalt Hospitality, Sodikoff runs Gilt Bar, Maude's Liquor Bar, Au Cheval, Small Cheval, Bavette's Bar & Boeuf, Doughnut Vault, Green Street Smoked Meats, High Five Ramen, Sawada Coffee and others in Chicago, plus Au Cheval and 4 Charles Prime Rib in New York.

Is Au Cheval opening in Nashville?

Yes. Au Cheval plans to open in a mixed-use development in Nashville's 12 South neighborhood in late fall 2026, according to What Now Nashville and The Tennessean. The Tennessean reported that Sodikoff is partnering with restaurateur Sam Fox on the location.

Who is Brendan Sodikoff's wife?

No reliable source names a spouse for Brendan Sodikoff. An earlier version of this page said he was married to Jeff Rapp, but there is no evidence for that and it was removed. He keeps his personal life private.

Where did Brendan Sodikoff train?

Sodikoff learned in kitchens: under Martin Woesle at Mille Fleurs in California, four years with Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, stints at the Ritz in Paris and with Alain Ducasse, and later as creative development officer at Lettuce Entertain You in Chicago.

Sources

  1. Restaurant Business: https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/power-20-2016/brendan-sodikoff
  2. Newcity: https://resto.newcity.com/2011/03/15/gilded-boy-overnight-sensation-brendan-sodikoffs-recipe-for-success/
  3. Eater Chicago: https://chicago.eater.com/2024/5/29/24166954/the-freeze-logan-square-ice-cream-small-cheval-hogsalt-hospitality-brendan-sodikoff-chicago
  4. The Real Deal: https://therealdeal.com/miami/2025/12/21/new-yorks-4-charles-prime-rib-to-open-in-miami-design-district/
  5. What Now Nashville: https://whatnow.com/nashville/restaurants/diner-style-au-cheval-heading-to-12-south/
  6. The Tennessean: https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/dining/2026/03/13/chicago-au-cheval-nashville-diner-fare/89100619007/

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