Table
The Spice Merchant
By Roger Toll
At Cima, Richard Sandoval’s love for the local and the Latin shines through in every dish. 42
richard sandoval — that spirited and unstoppable chef — loves to ski. That probably helps account for his growing bevy of restaurants in Colorado, which add to more than 30 stretching from Santa Monica to Dubai. The latest is Cima, which flowered a year ago in Avon at the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, at the mouth of the canyon that climbs out of the Vail Valley to the gold-plated base area of Beaver Creek. It was on my way to that base area on a warm March morning when I dropped by Cima for brunch. Y A wall of panoramic windows framed an idyllic view of the mountain and its ski trails, and refracted sunbeams streamed into the spacious dining room of orange and ochre, furnished with bold Latino abstract paintings, retro-chic
tables and chairs, and modernist high-backed booths — a playful decor that made me smile even before I’d had my first cup of coffee. On a terrace outside, hotel guests sipped cappuccinos and read The New York Times to the soothing harmonies of the Eagle River below. Creativity in tastes, textures, cultures, and cuisines lies at the heart of Sandoval’s exuberantly successful craftsmanship, and it was all on display that morning at the two massive buffet tables. Huevos rancheros, an exceptional dish, was baked in individual casserole crocks with black-bean puree, fried tortilla strips, a slice of avocado, crema fresca, pico de gallo, and a baked egg on top. Even more classical breakfast offerings had a twist; the eggs Benedict, for instance, came with a
courtesy cima
A culinary powerhouse finds a home in Colorado
TABLE Locally produced ingredients — some from as close as a garden at the hotel’s back door — are the stars of Cima’s creative cuisine.
44
Sandoval owns and operates a swath of restaurants that stretch halfway around the world, in places like Las Vegas, Washington D.C., New York City, and Qatar. But lately, his portfolio is getting thick in the Rockies, with Tamayo, Zengo, and La Sandia in Denver, and Venga Venga in Snowmass Village at Aspen. Why such a concentration in Denver? “I am fond of the city and would love to live there someday,” Sandoval says. “Denver embraced me and my style of cooking, so it was easy to open several restaurants there. At some point, I’d like to relocate our corporate office to Denver and make it our headquarters.” Though there are no specific plans yet, he’d like to open other mountain restaurants. “Mexican food is a natural fit for skiers. It’s hearty, warm, and goes great with tequila. And what kind of skier doesn’t like tequila?”s
Everything is prepared with fresh market produce, grass-fed meats, and specialty products from local purveyors. Y
R e s o u r c e s Pa g e 1 0 6
courtesy cima
hollandaise touched with tangy chipotle. By 11 a.m., the buffet was sliding from American breakfast to lunch dishes flavored with Asian-Latin fusion. An achiote chicken tostada with chipotle slaw and black beans was especially tasty. Salmon — tequila-cured and then smoked — was combined with red fresno chile pepper, onions, capers, and cilantro to create an unforgettable spicy dip served with house-made plantain and yucca chips. Two delicious Mexican cheeses came enfolded in a mole-negro crepe. A classic Caesarsalad dressing was tweaked with a nippy dash of achiote sauce and clever croutons made of corn flour. Horchata — the popular Mexican drink made from rice, cinnamon, and vanilla — helped tame the sometimes-spicy dishes, as did the delicious rice pudding, a Mexican favorite. “We like to call it local Latin cuisine,” says executive chef Radames Febles. “It encompasses tastes and ingredients from all around Latin America, with subtle Asian influences like the use of plum sauce, hoisin, and noodles. It’s what sets Cima apart from our other Latin-influenced restaurants, which tend to be fine Mexican, heavily Peruvian, or specifically Latin-Asian fusion.” Febles knows Sandoval’s other restaurants well; before taking on management of all culinary operations at the W estin Riverfront, he spent several years with Sandoval in Santa Monica overseeing two restaurants there. While the flavors at Cima are global, the ingredients don’t do much traveling; everything is prepared with fresh market produce, sustainable seafood, grass-fed meats, and specialty products from local purveyors — including a source right out the back door. “Cima is very fortunate to have its own garden space on the Eagle River,” says Radames. “That’s certainly not something I was expecting when I moved to the mountains.” Impressed by the blend of tastes, I sought out Sandoval (who, when I asked his residence, joked that he lives on United Airlines) to ask him his secret. “There are no secrets — it’s all about passion and understanding the ingredients and the flavor profiles,” he says. “Mexican cuisine is so diverse and has so many different ingredients that work well together. Take chiles. There are hundreds of varieties and so many ways to prepare them: roasted, grilled, dried, and so on. Once you understand the flavors and ingredients, you have incredible versatility. Then you can mix them all with other cuisines. Personally, I find it integrates beautifully with Asian tastes, as you may have seen.” Indeed. The dinner menu reads like a travelogue of exotic locations: chicken empanada with Oaxaca cheese, chile poblano, kaffir sauce, and mango salsa; pan-roasted skate with chorizo sausage and yuzusriracha aioli; Scottish salmon with Nueske bacon lardon and achiote ponzu; beef short ribs with huitlacoche, Oaxaca-cheese potato puree, and hoisin adobo sauce. Who needs airplanes to travel?