Chef and Owner - Modern Mexican
Chef Richard Sandoval’s passion for Mexican cuisine was instilled in him at an early age. Growing up in Mexico City, Chef Sandoval and his family gathered at his grandmother’s home every Sunday for lively family meals. He could often be found in the kitchen watching his grandmother make authentic Mexican dishes from scratch. She taught him about traditional ingredients and preparations and he was fascinated by the vibrant Mexican flavors that made family dinners so festive. Chef Sandoval also developed an appreciation for hospitality and restaurant operations as a child while spending time at his father’s restaurants, Madeiras and Villa Fiore. Together, these experiences sparked the vision that would become Modern Mexican Restaurants.
The collection of unique restaurant concepts in the Modern Mexican Restaurant group is a reflection of Chef Sandoval’s goal to showcase the diversity, breadth and potential of Mexican ingredients and culinary tradition. Each concept combines authentic Mexican ingredients with different and innovative culinary techniques from around the globe to create new and unexpected Mexican dining experiences.
As Chef and Owner of Modern Mexican Restaurants, a leading international restaurant group with over a dozen outlets in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC, Virginia, Denver, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Acapulco and Dubai, Chef Sandoval maintains the stellar reputation of his signature restaurants while identifying new opportunities to bring the vibrant flavors of Mexico to a larger and increasingly diverse audience. Chef Sandoval serves as an ambassador of Mexican cuisine by participating in cultural and culinary events, developing new restaurant and menu concepts, and promoting conceptual consumer products.
Prior to founding Modern Mexican Restaurants, Chef Sandoval gained attention in New York with a modern French menu at the successful Savann and Savann Est restaurants. It was not long before Chef Sandoval channeled his passion for Mexico into the modern Mexican cuisine at Maya, his flagship Modern Mexican Restaurant. Maya, San Francisco soon followed with the same warm welcome and accolades as its sister restaurant. Maya New York recently marked a decade of success with a refreshed design and enhanced menu. Today, Chef Sandoval is celebrating the third addition to the Maya concept with the opening of Maya Dubai at Le Meridien Beach Resort and Spa.
Spurred by the success of the Maya concept, Sandoval brought his cuisine to Denver and opened Tamayo, which also offers modern Mexican cuisine. This was soon followed by Zengo (Denver), which introduced Chef Sandoval’s cutting edge Latin-Asian cuisine. Expansion continued with Isla Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar, a collaboration with renowned hospitality designer, Jeffrey Beers, at Treasure Island (Las Vegas). Chef Sandoval then partnered with famed opera star Placido Domingo to open Pampano (New York), featuring coastal Mexican cuisine, and a second Zengo in Washington, DC. Maestro Placido Domingo has partnered with Chef Sandoval in each of the Modern Mexican restaurants that have opened since their first two projects together.
With the opening of La Sandia in Denver, Chef Sandoval successfully presented yet another facet of Mexican cuisine, the authentic flavors and traditional techniques he experienced as a child growing up in Mexico. Modern Mexican continued its international expansion in 2007 with Pampano in Mexico City and the re-launch of Madeiras in Acapulco. In 2008, Chef Sandoval introduced La Sandia to the Washington, DC area at Tysons Corner Center.
Chef Sandoval has also partnered with Nightlife entrepreneurs Rande and Scott Gerber, principals of Gerber Group. He consulted on the menu for the sumptuous ocean-front restaurant, The Beachhouse, at the ME Cancun Hotel in Mexico and developed a hip nightlife menu for the Mexx at the Whiskey, in Chicago.
Over the years, Chef Sandoval has received numerous awards and accolades including Bon Appetit’s prestigious 2006 Restaurateur of the Year, National Toque d’Oro, Mexican Chef of the Year, and was named one of “Best Chefs of 2003” by New York Magazine. Maya and Pampano are the only two Mexican restaurants to have been awarded 2 stars by the New York Times. Modern Mexican Restaurants consistently receives positive reviews by respected publications: The New York Times, Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post.
Sandoval is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.