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Old Ways, New Hands helps aspiring chefs

Applicants can get hands-on culinary and entrepreneurial training.

DENVER — Applications for Old Ways, New Hands are open through the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, Oct. 15.

Chef Richard Sandoval, chef and owner of Toro and Tomayo in Denver, started the initiative to help aspiring chefs with new tools, resources, mentorship, and an all-expenses paid trip to Mexico to learn about running a restaurant.

Gemma Aguayo-Murphy applied. Her online food blog is called “Everyday Latina.”

“Traditional Mexican recipes, but I am always very focused on having a lot of nourishing and wholesome ingredients,” Gemma Aguayo-Murphy said.  

She whips up tasty and traditional dishes she's learned from her mother, who passed last year. 

“There’s just something wonderful about being able to recreate something that was so special to me in my childhood,” Aguayo-Murphy said.  

Credit: Gemma Aguayo-Murphy

She's never had any formal training, so she applied for Old Ways, New Hands.


Aguayo-Murphy said Sandoval is the definition of Latino excellence, and she could learn a lot from him, including how to grow her brand. 

“To be able to develop my skills to maybe learn how to make Everyday Latina into something really successful and have that mentorship,” Aguayo-Murphy said. “I always talk about my blog Everyday Latina as an online love letter to my family.” 

She hopes that instead of scrolling, people will soon be turning pages of a cookbook, remembering her first mentor. 

“It's a tribute to my mom as well, a lot of the stories and recipes I share are her story, and it's a way to keep her alive, so it's a beautiful, wonderful thing that connects me to her,” Aguayo-Murphy said.

Richard Sandoval has inspired many people, including Oscar Padilla. Padilla considers him a mentor. Sandoval was watching as Padilla opened his own restaurant in January in Arvada, called Gaucho Parrilla.

Here’s part of our Q&A with Padilla.

Q: For someone who doesn’t know, what is Gaucho Parrilla and where did you draw inspiration?

A: This grill is an Argentinian influence and I love that Latin American culture combines my skills, plus all these traditions and techniques, ingredients, coming from Latin American culture. I want to share it with everybody. People need to discover this amazing work from Latin America and understand that we are more than just burritos sometimes. Part of the culture in Colorado is the mountains, the woodfire is in their blood, in their essence. My family, they are climbers, they are alpinists, they love the mountains in Mexico or traveling around the world, and woodfire is in my blood.

Credit: Oscar Padilla

Q: What is your connection to Richard Sandoval and what lessons has he taught you?

A: Chef Richard Sandoval is a big, big component of my career, he’s my mentor. He discovered me, my passion, my love from the culinary culture, the traditional Latin American cuisine. He discovered I had a lot of passion and humility sharing my food with everyone. Then he offered me a corporate position traveling with him and opening restaurants and teaching new chefs and cooks, you know the new generation. He’s an amazing chef and businessman, he’s taught me what are the rules of the game in this industry. Never be shy with salt, he showed me wherever you go share humility, that is the number one thing that is part of my essence for everybody and that is something I learned from Richard.

Q: How do you hope Richard helps new aspiring chefs, like he helped you?

A: I follow his steps and I feel like they have the opportunity, these new chefs and people have the opportunity to follow those steps too. I love the memories I have with him, traveling and learning different cultures and different countries with Richard.

Q: What is important to remember for Hispanic Heritage Month?

A: I am Latino. Latino don’t have a border. Latino means a whole family,  we are like a big community, the Latin American community, the Latin American family.

Applications close October 15th. Click here to apply, or for more information about Old Ways, New Hands.

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