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 me
cook (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