Richard Sandoval

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Richard Sandoval has built a cooking style that works from Mexican flavor, then widens it with global ingredients and creative technique. The result is a Contemporary Latin register that keeps faith with tradition without staying fixed in it. In his own words, “In Latin culture, everything revolves around food,” and that idea reads clearly in the work: food as daily practice, as cultural memory, and as a shared table. At MAYA in New York City, that approach lands in sharper detail. The restaurant shows how familiar Latin flavors can be reframed with a modern sensibility, with each plate built to feel deliberate rather than merely assembled. Richard Sandoval’s cooking is defined by that balance between heritage and invention: Mexican flavors form the base, global ingredients extend the range, and technique gives the finish its lift. He also speaks like a chef focused on direction rather than repetition. “I personally like to create trends, not follow trends,” Richard Sandoval says, and the line fits a working style that looks for distinction in a crowded field. The aim is not to echo what has already been done, but to make something with its own point of view.