Richard Sandoval

Treasure Island

Isla at TI

RICHARD SANDOVAL RESTAURANTS, Chef and Owner

Growing up in Mexico City, Chef Sandoval and his family would gather at his grandmother’s table for large, lively meals. Chef Sandoval would join his grandmother in the kitchen as she prepared authentic Mexican feasts from scratch.

From his grandmother, he learned to respect fresh, authentic ingredients and to create the vibrant flavors that turned family dinners into celebrated events. Meanwhile, his restaurateur father, owner of Madeiras in Acapulco and Villa Fiore in Mexico City, imparted lessons in service and restaurant management.

These early influences inspired Chef Sandoval to enroll at the Culinary Institute of America. Upon graduation, he gained the attention of New Yorkers with his contemporary French restaurants, Savann and Savann Est. Soon, though, he returned to his first love – the Mexican food of his childhood. In 1997 he channeled his passion into Maya, his flagship modern Mexican restaurant in New York. Chef Sandoval opened his second modern Mexican concept, Tamayo, in Denver in 2001.

In 2003, Chef Sandoval and opera star Placido Domingo partnered at Pampano, which would become their first of many restaurants together. Located in midtown Manhattan, Pampano serves coastal Mexican cuisine.  2004 took Chef Sandoval back to Denver where he opened Zengo, his first Latin-Asian restaurant.

From modern Mexican, to coastal Mexican to Latin-Asian, Chef Sandoval’s diverse collection of restaurants explores the potential of Latin cuisine.  Each unique menu combines authentic Latin ingredients with international flavors and inventive culinary techniques to create a new and unexpected, Latin dining experience.

As Chef and Owner of Richard Sandoval Restaurants, now a leading international restaurant group with more than a dozen locations in New York City, Washington DC, Virginia, Denver, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Acapulco and Dubai, Chef Sandoval maintains the stellar reputation of his restaurants while identifying opportunities to bring Latin American flavors to larger and increasingly diverse audiences.

Through the years, expansion continued with Zengo, DC as well as Isla Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar at Treasure Island in Las Vegas. La Sandia Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar serves authentic Mexican cooking at two locations in Denver and a third in Tyson’s Corner, Va.

Richard Sandoval Restaurants also went international with Pampano locations in Mexico City and Acapulco and Maya at Le Royal Meridien in Dubai.  Future plans for the United States and abroad include: Pampano, Qatar in spring 2010; Zengo, NYC in spring 2010; and the simultaneous opening of Zengo and La Sandia in Santa Monica in summer 2010.

Chef Sandoval also created Latin-inspired menus for TNT at the Luxor in Las Vegas and Ketsi, the casual yet elegant seafood restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita, Mexico.  He is currently customizing menus for La Hacienda at the Fairmont, Scottsdale and the Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel.

Over the years, Chef Sandoval has received numerous awards, including Bon Appetit’s prestigious Restaurateur of the Year in 2006. He was named one of the “Best Chefs of 2003” by New York Magazine, and Maya and Pampano are the only two Mexican restaurants to have been awarded two stars by the New York Times. International accolades include the National Toque d’Oro, Mexican Chef of the Year, and the MENA’s Best Fine Dining Restaurant award for the experience at Maya, Dubai.