MAY 2026 16 In the Kitchen with Executive Chef Richard Rodriguez of Mastro’s City Hall 6991 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale • mastrosrestaurants.com In the Kitchen F rom flipping eggs with his dad to leading one of Old Town Scottsdale’s most well-known kitchens, Chef Richard Rodriguez’s journey to the culinary world started with family, passion and a love for keeping things simple. Where are you from originally? I was born in New York and moved to Arizona – after a short stint in Florida – when I was 12. My family and I lived in Globe and after graduation, I moved to the Valley to attend culinary school and I’ve been here ever since. I attended Scottsdale Culinary Institute. My dad was a machinist, meaning he built machines that made stuff, and my mom worked in retail. Do you think your growing up in NYC had any effect on your cooking techniques today? I’ve always loved the hole-in-the-wall restaurants that you can only find in New York. It always brings me back to basics. I don’t think a dish needs 35 ingredients, I think four or five that are really well done is perfect. What cemented your interest in the culinary industry? I was a junior in high school and my family had gathered together for breakfast. As I was cooking, we were all chatting and I mentioned that I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school. I had an uncle that was a chef and my grandfather was a cook in the Army, and we were reminiscing about that as I’m cooking breakfast and it kind of dawned on all of us… culinary school! What was your favorite class? It was the restaurant portion. The last few classes all students would learn about each section of a restaurant – front of house, back of house – and that was really my first taste of fine dining. The first half of my line cook career I was always the sauté guy. I liked the action of it; it’s like being an octopus with having all the pans moving at one time. Once you do that for a while, you ‘graduate’ to grill cook or broil cook, and you’re slingin’ steaks. Is breakfast the first meal you remember cooking? It is! When I was a kid I would help my dad in the kitchen when he’d be cooking eggs for the family. He’d show me how to make everything and I’d make a little omelet before I sat down to watch cartoons. What other restaurants have you worked at? I’ve been all around the Valley – I’ve actually only worked in Arizona – but I was at Fleming’s, Tommy Bahama’s, Kona Grill. I worked at Ocean Club for five years, and I was the chef at O.H.S.O. in Arcadia and I opened the PV location. I ran a few Copper Blues locations before coming to Mastro’s – I’ve been here in total for seven years. My roots are definitely in fine dining, especially after attending a French culinary school. I feel like that’s where I thrive. I think, from a guest’s perspective, whether it’s nachos or filet mignon, they expect a level of execution and care. On my end, I always want a hand in the higher-end dining. What’s your favorite food profile? When I’m cooking for myself, I like taking Asian ingredients and cooking them with French techniques. It lets me flex my culinary school muscles [ laughs ]. An example would be tuna au poivre (prepared or served with coarsely ground black pepper) paired with a wasabi and sesame blended into a French style sauce. Those are two of my favorite types of cuisine. Explain the dishes at Mastro’s. Well, our menus don’t change much [ laughs ] – actually the biggest rollout I’ve seen in the company happened last month when we added three items. We like to keep dishes simple but made with top of the line ingredients. The most popular items are – of course – the filet mignon and the butter cake. You can’t forget about the butter cake. For Mother’s Day we’re hosting a brunch with a full buffet that’s got items like strip loin and ham carving stations and full breakfast items – bacon, eggs, sausage, omelets – plus desserts and pastries. It’s going to be delicious. What do you cook when you’re home? I have a 10-year-old, so I have to keep it kind of basic but I like to go to the grocery store and just see what pops out at me; there could be a pork tenderloin over here and some fresh veggies over here and I create something I love. My son is at the ‘chicken tenders and fries’ stage, but he’s slowly coming out of it and being more open to trying new things. He’s very picky about steak – he won’t eat it unless I cook it or I show him and he cooks it himself. He likes to cook at home!

17 MAY 2026 What’s one dish that represents you as a chef, and why that dish? Our Japanese A5 wagyu steak, without a doubt. For me, it really bridges the gap between the classic American steakhouse and elevated global cuisine. What’s something guests might not realize goes into executing a “standard” menu at a high level? Precision. No matter how busy it is or how you’re feeling that day, there’s zero room for error. Every item has to be perfect, every time. If you were going to create a class for kids to learn about the industry, what would that class entail? The basic skills are so important. Knife techniques, or how to roast a chicken or how to reduce a sauce. They’re all techniques that if you have them in your mental toolbox, you can make anything. Figure out the ingredients later – if you know how to brunoise (to dice very small) carrots, that can translate to any vegetable. What’s one item in the kitchen you use all the time? The sharpest, cleanest knife I can carry with me. Whether you’re at home or a professional chef, that’s one item that you’ll always use. Who are some other chefs that inspire you? Every day after school, I used to watch Emeril Live . Emeril Lagasse was my hero and his passion for the industry was just… he loved cooking and he loved talking about cooking and that really vibed with me early on. If you could cook for one person, who would that be and why? My grandmother. She did a lot of cooking when I was younger, and she passed when I was just coming up in the industry. I’d love to show her what I can do now versus when we were making eggs in the kitchen on Saturday morning. How do you keep yourself calm when things get crazy in the kitchen? Organization! It’s all about organization. When the rail is full of order tickets, you can’t look at the whole thing and go, ‘Oh no, what am I going to do?’ You have to focus on the first few in front of you and build on that. One step at a time. If you could travel anywhere in the world to cook, where would you go? Right now, I’d say France so I could do a deep dive into French cuisine and learn in the place that these techniques were developed. What restaurant would you recommend to someone who is new to the Valley? Oh, besides Mastro’s City Hall [ laughs ]? I don’t get out much so it’s hard to answer, but I’ve always loved Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion. Uchi in Scottsdale is really good if you like sushi! What’s the key to making a consistent dish feel special every time it’s served? The key is passion. Even if it’s the 10,000th time you’ve made a dish, you treat every plate as if you’re signing your name on it. That’s what makes every dish special. What role do restaurants play in bringing a community together? The dinner table has always been a place for people to come together. Great food sparks great conversation and gives us something to bond over, whether it’s at grandma’s house or a fine dining restaurant. Even if it’s the 10,000th time you’ve made a dish, you treat every plate as if you’re signing your name on it. That’s what makes every dish special.