A Profile of a Chef
Long before guests packed its dining room, Kid Sister was a project held together by a tight team and a chef whose training across the country anchored the restaurant’s direction and flavor.
The 2025 James Beard Best New Bar nominee identifies itself as a neo-bistro, characterized by its locally sourced, creative menu, casual setting, and wine pairings.
Isaac Mendoza is the chef responsible for Kid Sister’s culinary exploration.
Most days of the week, Mendoza said, it’s just him and one other line cook in the small kitchen.
“The space dictates what you can do,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza operates his service with only four gas burners, a “little baby oven,” a broiler, and a salad station. The freezer that holds desserts, until recently, was across the dining room in a storage closet.
Instead of an obstacle, however, the limited kitchen space ensures that Mendoza sees his dishes through the entire cooking process, allowing him to confirm they meet his standard before they reach the pass.
“[Mendoza] knows exactly what he wants,” friend and former coworker Nic Singh said.
Chef Mendoza has a vision for Kid Sister that goes beyond just food.
“What I think I want to do here is to be a respected place,” Mendoza said. “And I think there's longevity in being respected.”
Three books on Paris's neo-bistro movement, which offered great inspiration to the development of Kid Sister's look and menu. 10/15/2025
Chef Isaac Mendoza looks through the pass as he begins prepping cauliflower purée. There is limited workspace in the kitchen. 10/15/2025
Backstory
The art of cooking runs in Mendoza’s family, both his father and grandfather were chefs at The Beef Eaters, which opened in 1961. Though The Beef Eaters closed in 2006, its old lunch menu now hangs in Kid Sister’s dining room as an homage to the Phoenix landmark.
10/15/2025
Mendoza began working at Del Frisco’s Grille fresh out of high school as a busser and food runner.
He had a daughter, he said, so he needed to make money while he was living with his family.
At the same time, Mendoza attended Phoenix College. There, he began taking culinary classes for credits.
“I was good at it, so I stuck to it,” Mendoza said.
He soon moved into the kitchen at Del Frisco’s Grille, where he started as a pantry cook.
Mendoza said he learned basic techniques in that kitchen, but what would later set him up for success was the volume.
He cooked at Del Frisco’s Grille for three or four years, Mendoza said, working his way up to sous chef.
Then, Mendoza spent a summer traveling to open 3 new concepts around the states. Afterwards, he decided to find work in Houston.
Though it was hard to be so far from his family, Mendoza started working at Uchi Houston, he said.
While working in Texas, Mendoza’s goal was to “soak up” as much as he could so he could come back home and start something of his own.
“I was alone, no family,” Mendoza said. “So, I would show up like an hour early and get done with my prep, and I'd ask the chefs, hey, can I help you with anything?”
After his time at Uchi, Mendoza went to Austin, where he was sous chef for Odd Duck.
In the year and a half Mendoza spent working at Odd Duck, he learned the importance of being “hyper local as best as you can” and fostering relationships with producers.
Mendoza found himself at L’Oca D’Oro during the pandemic and Texas ice storms of 2021, where he volunteered with Good Work Austin to help donate 700 meals a day.
“There were restaurants that were also opening up, and we chose not to,” Mendoza said. “We chose to do this to kind of help the community.”
In April of 2021, Mendoza returned to Phoenix and prepped for Valentine, where he met the now owners of Kid Sister, before he was offered the Chef de Cuisine position at Progress.
Mendoza told the owner, “I'll give you a year, because I don't want to be in Progress forever.”