Who would have guessed that the aspiring professional tennis player would one day own a restaurant empire that extends from Denver to Dubai and around again. It can easily be said that Richard Sandoval is the most successful Latin chef in the world today. His commitment to quality and innovation has expanded the Richard Sandoval brand to places that were – until his arrival – unfamiliar with the richness of Latin food.

Since working at his father side in Acapulco and having the experience of two very popular New York restaurants,
Sandoval’s career really took off with Maya.  After sharing drinks with Sandoval at a Culinary Festival in Riviera Nayarit a few days before, we met again for a more formal interview at the soft opening of his latest venture in New York, DohYo, a spectacular space in the recently opened Yotel.

HOMBRE: Let’s go back to where it all began. How did you decide to open Maya?
RS: Mexican food 10 years ago was seen as very casual food, almost all Tex-Mex. After 2 years of realizing how restaurants worked I opened Maya in 1997.  It was not a great location and I was a month away from closing and then the New York Times came in and gave me 2 stars. We were the first 2 star Mexican restaurant in New York and a domino effect took over. People kept coming to us. After that I went to San Francisco and opened Maya San Francisco which got 3 stars from the Chronicle. Then went to Denver and everywhere else and now we have 29 restaurants.

MAYA, New York

H: To what do you attribute the success of Maya and your ability to expand?
RS: Growing up with my father I learned the restaurant business. He was always numbers driven. He always wanted me to understand that it wasn’t the glamorous side; first and foremost it was a business so when I went on my own l always understood numbers.

H: How do you maintain quality control?
RS: It’s all about the people. I have a great team of chefs, great operations people, I have a corporate office. I’ve structured my company in a way that allows me to grow

H: How have you been able to expand your brand?
RS: I’m very passionate with what I do. When Maya became successful lots of people wanted me to do the same thing. But I would go to a place where I was thinking of opening a restaurant, spend time there analyze the community, see the area and tweak it and come up with a different concept.

KETSI, Riviera Nayarit, Mexico

H: How do you develop the menus?
RS: Everything has a Latin element in it, all my restaurants, all my menus. There’s Latin Asian, Latin seafood, they all have a Latin component to it, depending in what I want to do.

H: What has been your inspiration?
RS: From the business side, my father. But the passion for food came from my grandmother. Every weekend at my grandmother’s house there was always a party, the whole family was together, there were platters of food coming out. They would have imported butters, imported cheeses. My palate was being exposed to different flavors from around the world. A lot of chefs don’t have that.

TORO TORO, Dubai

H: How is the
process of exporting Latin food to places like Dubai and India?
RS: It’s incredible. Today Latin food is the Italian of 10 years ago, the French of 10 years ago. As the world has globalized I think all chefs are using all the ingredients from around the world, even the French are using jalapenos, cilantro.  Latin food is explosive, it’s colorful, there are so many varieties and you can use them in so many ways to come up with a completely different flavor profile. It’s a cuisine the world has embraced.

ZENGO, New York

H: Tell us about Zengo.
RS: Zengo in Japanese means give and take. I hired a chef when I was working in Singapore and he would do an Asian dish and I would Latinize.
I would do a Latin dish and he would Asianize it. Two chefs, give and take, back and forth, mixing their cultures, their cuisines, their ideas.

DOHYO, New York

H: And DohYo, the new restaurant here at Yotel?
H: Yotel has a big boutique hotel feel to it. It’s fun, exciting, great food. This restaurant will have a global cuisine, a combination of all my menus, all my travels from around the world in one menu.

H: What do you cook at home?
RS: You’ve met my wife right (laughs). She doesn’t let mecook (laughs). You should ask her that question. But seriously, I live in California, I like an outside kitchen, fresh vegetables, fresh food. I’m always around such elaborate menus so when I’m home I like simple food. And I raise my kids to eat very healthy food.

RAYA, Laguna Niguel, CA

H: What’s next for you?
RS: I’m opening a restaurant in DC tomorrow, then the Yotel opens officially, then Dubai, then a wine bar in Denver called Al Lado next to Zengo. I’m doing an Asian restaurant in Mexico City, working for something in Miami, opening something in Vegas, we have about 5 or 6 projects brewing right now for next 12 months

H: How involved are you in the details of your restaurants?
RS: I like to create. I’m involved in everything. People who invest in me want me to do that, it’s very important.  I care about their money, care about every detail.

H: To what do you attribute your success?
RS: I would say it’s strong relationships and honesty, that’s why I have such a good reputation and people continue to do business with me.

H: What can people expect from a Richard Sandoval restaurant?
RS: It’s very important to over deliver. I think people understand my food now and look for bold flavors, balance, contrasts, texture, and consistency. If you’re going to be successful you have to be consistent and when people go one of my restaurants they know what they’re getting.

To discover the world of Richard Sandoval visit www.richardsandoval.com