Voyage Denver Magazine
Today we’d like to introduce you to Oscar Padilla.
Hi Oscar, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – To start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I was born in Los Angeles, California, with a Mexican heritage. At a young age, I relocated to Mexico where I developed a deep appreciation for traditional cooking styles through observing my grandmother’s preparation of Mexican dishes with rich flavors. This experience, combined with growing up surrounded by my family and shared meals, led me to pursue a career in the culinary arts.
Restaurant-Hospitality.com, Introducing the 2023 Chef Power List.
Oscar Padilla — Gaucho Parilla, Arvada, Colo.
One thing that’s easy to notice about Oscar Padilla is he is constantly wearing a big, warm, and radiant smile. Another is the remarkable restaurant that he opened on April 1, 2023. Gaucho Parilla in the Denver suburb of Arvada, Colo., is located in the Freedom Street Social food hall, and there the chef whips up Argentine dishes such as choripan sandwiches, made with Argentinian chorizo, caramelized onions, and chimichurri on a French roll; churrasco a la brasa, which is steak with fried potatoes and chimichurri; and Latin-styled tapas including roasted cauliflower with honey-chile garlic sauce and spicy pumpkin seeds, as well as chorizo empanadas.
For Padilla, cooking has been a big part of his life and the Los Angeles-born Latino really embraced his heritage when he moved back to Mexico at a young age. There he started learning the traditional cooking styles as he watched his grandmother cook for the family. Padilla went on to study in Mexico City, and then began working at the famed Club de Banqueros, also in that city. Padilla made his way back to the United States to work for chef Richard Sandoval, who now has more than 60 restaurants globally. Padilla also has bragging rights after winning an episode of the Food Network’s show “Chopped" in February, 2023. But even with the fame that comes from doing well on television, the chef has the same humble and friendly demeanor and pure dedication to make delicious food that he loves.
-Linnea Covington
Chef Oscar Padoillawins Food Network’s “Chopped”
Oscar Padilla was offered the opportunity to go on Food Network’s “Chopped” cooking competition series three times while he was working for Richard Sandoval Hospitality over the past 10 years.
But Padilla, who previously served as executive chef of Toro and Tamayo, both in Denver, was too busy traveling the world, helping the restaurant group open 17 concepts as a corporate trainer.
