ALO Demo Kitchen Theater Presentation
Sunday, April 11th | 5:15pm

Máximo Tejada is Executive Chef and partner of Rayuela, a stylish new restaurant on the Lower East Side that is introducing Estilo Libre Latino (Freestyle Latino) cuisine.  His cooking represents his character—spiritual, nurturing, energetic, harmonious, gentle—and he puts his passion into each dish, creating inimitable combinations of ingredients that inspire a memorable reaction with each bite.  A true artist, Tejada connects with others through the craft of cooking, using food to create a fabric of energy. 

At Rayuela, Tejada returns to the basics of restaurant hospitality, where the love of people inspires creative, heartfelt cooking.  Rayuela re-envisions Latin American and Spanish classics with its first-of-its kind Estilo Libre Latino (Freestyle Latino) cuisine.  While the basic structure of the traditional dishes will be maintained, the actual ingredients may be unconventional and may come from several different countries.  The result is a cuisine that is without pretensions; it feels harmonious even when it is elaborate.

Tejada graduated from the French Culinary Institute in 1996 and was quickly recruited by Patria.  He soon followed his mentor Douglas Rodríguez, often regarded as the father of Nuevo Latino cuisine, to Chicama and Pipa Tapas Restaurant at ABC Carpet & Home where he became head chef and helped Chicama earn two stars from The New York Times.  He further honed his skills at Rodríguez’s OLA, a Latin eatery on 48th Street, before returning to the former Chicama space, now called Lucy Latin Kitchen, in 2004 (which earned three stars from Crain’s New York Business). 

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 élite cruise line and later through operations at Water Club and the Rainbow Room.  These experiences inspired him to pursue a culinary career. 

Tejada was born in the Dominican Republic, where he was fascinated by his grandmother’s soulful home cooking and by the colors, sounds and aromas she created for each meal.