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Thursday, September
12, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110
¡Viva
México! Each year, on the eve of Mexican Independence Day,
every zócalo in Mexico is filled with proud Mexicans
waiting for the grito—a cheer that pays homage to the
many heroes who helped win Mexico's independence from Spain in 1810.
For Richard Sandoval, who was instrumental in introducing New Yorkers
to authentic Mexican food at his own upscale hacienda, Maya,
tradition is inextricably intertwined with his cooking.
Sandoval, who
grew up in Mexico City and Acapulco, remembers the Independence
Day celebrations from his youth as boisterous, joyous occasions
when his extended family would gather to enjoy a feast of traditional
foods. "Though I live here now, it's really important to me
to keep Mexican traditions alive for my kids," he said. "I
always make a traditional Independence Day feast, but now I add
my own twist."
Sandoval couldn't
be more qualified to interpret traditional Mexican cuisine. He studied
cooking at the CIA, but returned home to take over the stoves at
his family's Acapulco restaurants, Madieras and Villa Fiore. In
1992 he earned Mexico's coveted National Toque d'Or (chef of the
year award). Luckily for us, Sandoval decided to try his luck in
New York. In 1995, he opened Savann, and some time later, Savann
Est, featuring French-inflected international cuisine. In 1997 Sandoval
opened Maya, where he concentrates on cooking the food closest to
his heart. It's a direction that has paid off. "The food at
Maya is unlike just about anything else being served in New York
City," Ruth Reichl wrote in The New York Times. "The
food…really wakes you up."
"There
are very few good Mexican restaurants in New York," Moira Hodgson
wrote in the New York Observer, "and none has refined
this cooking to quite so high an art as this."
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