Richard Sandoval & TORO Latin GastoBar

Across Latin America, food is more than a meal. It’s an event. It’s a celebration that’s shared, savored and enjoyed with the finest spirits. Join us in this ritual.

TORO Latin GastoBar

Saturday, Belgrade riverside, TORO Latin GastroBar, Prstohvat soli and Palachinka in a casual talk with chef Richard Sandoval, while sharing tapas…

Richard Sandoval is a name that stands for quality in a culinary world. A master of Latin cuisine that never wanted to build his empire on glory. Because he didn’t want to be a TV chef, but to cook. After all, it is enough for you to click on this link to understand the greatness of this name and be glad that of all the cities in the world he chose my Belgrade as one of the cities to open his restaurant.

Richard Sandoval is a chef that separates food into two types, good or bad. As he says, although other chefs followed trends towards molecular gastronomy, he himself was never a fan of that, so he took a step back, to his roots. His greatest influence and inspiration – his grandmas’ cooking. But today, his food is a fusion of Latin and Asian flavors. Unusual combination some might say, but completely logical to Sandoval as flavors are similar and complement each other.

As an answer to our question if he likes our Serbian food we got a smile And the answer we wanted to hear – of course! Since they opened a Serbian restaurant in Washington DC, a certain amount of exploring of our cuisine was necessary. Chef enjoys our food, but he admits that to him it is a bit heavy and it took him a while to become a fan. After all, Mexican food is also heavy and that’s why they have to adjust it in the USA. People just don’t eat as they used to eat 20 or 30 years ago. That’s why they try to make Serbian food a bit lighter, but still keep it’s integrity. And it seems they’re doing so far so good…

And just like the most of the foreigners that were lucky enough to immerse into the depths of Serbian cuisine, Sandoval’s favorites are kajmak and rakija. That we totally approve!

And TORO… TORO is a casual restaurant. A place to have fun while savoring tapas. To eat with your hands. To follow the idea of a casual meal. Maybe you decide to skip the mains. Their small plates and ceviche bar are made for sharing. And everything we had a chance to taste was just like that, and the tastes are a story for themselves… Not unusual ingredients, but so many unusual combinations!

Thank you Nina, Sandoval and TORO for enabling the creation of this post… We enjoyed sooo much!

Ana, Sandoval and me

The first and the last photos in the post ©Prstohvat soli.