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Chef Máximo Tejada
Máximo Tejada is the Executive Chef and partner of Rayuela Restaurant, established in 2007 in New York's Lower East Side, and headquarters of his Estilo Libre Latino cuisine, which respects yet redefines contemporary Latin American and Spanish dishes. His second restaurant, Macondo, is an exploration of Latino Comida de la Calle, and offers a menu featuring his version of tapas-style dishes. Tejada's cooking is a tangible illustration of his soul, bringing to every creation a harmonious layering of intense and delicate flavors. It is at Rayuela where Tejada finds himself at home, and, as a true artist, connects with others through the craft of cooking. Author of Estilo Libre Latino cuisine, Tejada reenvisions Latin American and Spanish classics through a constant search for new horizons within this traditional cuisine. His kitchen is unpretentious and his menus reflect his unique heritage and experiences –a complex merging of Dominican Republic, Peru, Puerto Rico, and New York legacies. Once trained as a wood carpenter, interior designer and watercolorist, it comes with no surprise that he approaches each new culinary creation with an artistic zeal. A perfect example of Cocina de Autor, Maximo's work is an artistic culinary expression where the love of people inspires creative, heartfelt cooking. Tejada graduated from the French Culinary Institute in 1996 and was quickly recruited by famed New York Times three-star Latin restaurant Patria. His talent soon got him to Chicama and Pipa Tapas Restaurant where he became head chef and helped Chicama earn two stars from the New York Times. He further honed his skills at OLA, before returning to Lucy Latin Kitchen, in 2004 (which earned three stars from Crain's New York Business). Tejada's accomplishments within New York's culinary scene are remarkable, but he truly owes his success to his grandmother from whom he learned the true meaning of soulful home cooking. At the age of 21, Tejada moved to New York, claiming his first job in the industry as a server aboard a World Yacht Cruise boat and rose through the ranks of the elite cruise line and later through operations at Water Club and the Rainbow Room. These experiences inspired him to pursue a culinary career. Tejada's keen interest in Spanish cuisine is opening a new chapter in his career. His exploration in this area is the epicenter of novel culinary foundations which will soon be displayed in his immediate new projects.
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Héctor Sanz
With a career standing over 13 years in New York City's hospitality industry, Hector Sanz has solidly established himself as a visionary and audacious restaurateur, and one who is soon to open his third and fourth restaurants in the culinary capital of the world. Partnered with Chef Maximo Tejada, Sanz opened Rayuela, his first restaurant, in 2007 in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Since then, Rayuela has been recognized as the headquarters of Tejada's Estilo Libre Latino Cuisine, respecting yet redefining contemporary Latin American and Spanish dishes. A native of Spain, Sanz emerged onto New York City's dining landscape with a unique vision: to create an intellectual connection between Latin American and Spanish culture and their cuisine. A lover of literature and film, Sanz has found in these arts an evident connection with the culinary world. Rayuela was inspired by Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar's 1963 experimental novel, while Macondo, his second restaurant opened in the summer of 2008, is named after the fictional town described in Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Located two blocks away from Rayuela, Macondo pays tribute to Latin American and Spanish street food, showcasing Latin American and Spanish tapas in a casual and chic atmosphere. After 4 successful years of operation, Rayuela and Macondo have gained the respect of New York's restaurant scene, as well as led the way to the creation of the boutique and up-and-coming Quimera Restaurant Group. In addition, his various culinary trips to Spain, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa have inspired him to embark in two new projects: Barraca and Melibea. Soon to be opened in Manhattan's West Village, these two new members of Quimera Restaurant Group will pay tribute to Sanz' roots by featuring Chef Tejada's cocina de autor inspired by different regions of Spain. Sanz' incendiary vision emphasizes the merging and capitalizing of those Spanish-speaking cultures, as well as encompasses inspirations from 1920's Spain, accentuating Luis Bunuel, Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali's trilogy. The skillfully designed wine list exemplifies the enthusiasm and expertise Sanz embodies, which is presently evident in Rayuela and Macondo's list, as Sanz personally selected more than 600 wines from the Spanish-speaking world. Sanz met Rayuela's Executive Chef Máximo Tejada in 2003 when they worked together at OLA—Sanz as the general manager and wine director—and was immediately drawn to his spiritual approach to cooking. Prior to Rayuela, Sanz was director of Lucy Latin Kitchen (which earned three stars from Crain's New York Business) and Pipa Tapas Restaurant in ABC Carpet & Home; general manager of Meritage; and assistant manager of Taperia Madrid. Throughout, Sanz remained a true mentor to his staff, continually educating them through daily meetings and guided or blind wine tastings and seminars. In 1999, after a stint studying industrial engineering and philosophy at Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales (ETSII) in Madrid, Sanz left Spain for New York City, where he began his career in the restaurant industry. Sanz was born in the small town of Soria, just two hours from Madrid. The marriage of Hector Sanz' Spanish heritage to that of Dominican native Chef Maximo Tejada has staked a claim in all Latin territory. This unity is solidified by their shared motive grounded in the passion for the ever-transpiring cultures of Spain and Latin America, thereby, creating their philosophy of "one language, many flavors".
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Bruni Bueno
Bruni Bueno is the pastry chef at Rayuela, the stylish new restaurant on Manhattanís Lower East Side. Bueno contributes her delectable desserts to Rayuelaís Estilo Libre Latino (Freestyle Latino) menu, which respects tradition yet redefines contemporary Latin American and Spanish dishes. Signature examples include the Crema de Requeson, Spanish ricotta cheese custard with olive compote and basil mousse, and Chocolate Cortazár, named after the author of the South American novel and namesake, Rayuela, contains three different chocolate mousses in a layered dessert with matÈ ice cream. Her creations are famous for convincing customers who ìcanít eat another biteî to devour an entire tart, slice of cake or timbale. They are far more sophisticated than the usual blast of sugar; they combine texture, flavor, and color with incredible subtlety.
Photography by Bartomeu Amengual Bueno met Rayuela Partners HÈctor Sanz and Executive Chef M·ximo Tejada at Ola and Pipa, where she developed a good working relationship with both. Her irresistible pastries impressed Sanz there and later at Lucy Latin Kitchen, where they again collaborated with success prior to Rayuela's opening.
Lucy Latin Kitchenís broad Latin focus allowed her creativity to blossom, and she received rave reviews from food critics during her tenure there as pastry chef. She drew on influences from Italy, France, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and many other countries. Bueno was the head pastry chef at Douglas Rodriguez's Ola, Chicama, and Pipa, previous to Lucy Latin Kitchen. Before that, she worked as a pastry assistant at Mercado for three years.
Bueno's first restaurant job was in Fred's at Barney's. She worked behind the register, but she was irresistibly drawn to desserts. She found herself standing outside the pastry kitchen in rapt attention and peppering the pastry chef with questions. Soon Bueno was volunteering her time off to help out with desserts.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Bueno began creating desserts for her family and friends at an early age. Banana bread, flan, coconut cakeóher creations were so delicious that she was put on permanent dessert duty at every family gathering and party. She came to New York to expand her frontiers, but she has always drawn inspiration from her native country.
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Location
157 E. Houston St.
(between Allen and Eldridge)
New York, NY
212.473.9900
Hours
Mon-Tue-Wed: 5PM - 12AM
Thur: 4PM - 12AM
Fri: 4PM - 2AM
Sat: 5PM - 2AM
Brunch: Sat-Sun 11AM-4PM |
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