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Week of February 23, 2023
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 9 | SPORTS: PAGE 14
VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 36
Arvada chef wins Food Network’s ‘Chopped’ City of Arvada resident survey shows general satisfaction, concern of public safety 71% of respondents rate the quality of life in Arvada as ‘good’ BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
cuisine I want to do. Playing and working with fire is my passion.” Padilla’s passion carried him through the first two rounds of a competition, where he skillfully made an appetizer and an entree from a limited basket of ingredients, wowing the celebrity guest judges both times. The third and final challenge of the episode — the dessert challenge — was uniquely difficult for Padilla, who says he prefers to eat sweets than make them. He says he was planning on making churros or a donut, but that plan fell apart when the basket he was given contained premade donuts. Improvising on the spot, Padilla explained in a frustrated confessional, “I’m not a pastry chef; I’m a wood fire chef.” The momentary discouragement did not go to his head, however. Padilla got to work deconstructing the donuts and fashioning them into Banuelos, a Latin American fried dough fritter. “I love desserts, I’m amazing with dessert — eating, not making or prepping,” Padilla said. “Sweetness
Most Arvadans rated the quality of life in Arvada as “good” in a survey conducted from Oct. 1, 2022 to Nov. 2, 2022 that gauged feedback from 1,200 residents on a variety of issues including housing, public safety, city government and use of tax dollars. The City of Arvada shared the results during a Feb. 13 workshop. The city has conducted biannual resident surveys on odd years since 1997 — with the exception of 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why this year’s survey took place on an even year. The survey was conducted by Probolsky Research; a market research firm based in California. This year’s survey was the first that was sent to all residents over the internet, social media, through mailers, phone calls and the city’s website. The survey took about 20 minutes to complete and was offered in English and Spanish, though only 2% of respondents answered in Spanish. The survey found that 71.2% of Arvadans rate the quality of life in the city as “good,” while 24.1% rate their quality of life as “fair” and 4.6% rate their quality of life as “poor.” When asked how Arvada compared to other cities and towns, people answered roughly along the same lines, with 70.5% rating Arvada as “good,” 23% rating it as
SEE CHOPPED, P6
SEE SURVEY, P2
Chef Padilla poses in front of celebratory banners and decor — including his daughter’s stuffed pig, Pancho, which appeared on the PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN show.
Oscar Padilla brings South American open flame cooking heritage to the national stage BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When Oscar Padilla — Chef and Founder of Arvada’s Gaucho Parilla (“Cowboy Barbeque,” translated) — won the Feb. 7 episode of the popular Food Network cooking competition “Chopped,” he knew exactly what he would do with the $10,000 prize money: give it to his wife. “My wife at some point, she put on hold her career,” Padilla said. “She’s sacrificed her dreams to bring me support and help with my dreams and my career. It’s time to pay it back. I want to bring that opportunity to her equal to the opportunity she’s brought to me. It’s so important to me that she continues learning and growing in her career.” Padilla was born in Los Angeles and has Mexican heritage, which he says inspires his cooking. He and
his wife have two children, and the wood fire chef has made a name for himself in the Colorado culinary scene through gigs at Toro and Hotel CLIO. He opened Gaucho Parilla last month at Freedom Street Social in West Arvada to rave reviews. The restaurant is a spin-off of his wood fire catering business; A Fuego. Padilla’s experience working with a variety of meat and open flames helped him greatly on “Chopped” — the theme of which, for his episode, was “Pig Candy.” Padilla said that he’s been approached to appear on “Chopped” before, but scheduling issues made an appearance unfeasible. He let the Arvada Press into a little production secret: the chefs who are invited to appear are often given the option between multiple episode themes. Padilla’s episode was filmed in New York in October. “When they contacted me, I’m so proud to receive that invitation,” Padilla said. “They offered me the opportunity to participate in two different episodes. That one I feel is better for me right now, because I’m an expert in open fire; wood fire is my heritage from my family, is the