Rio Rancho chef up for 'Favorite Chef' award; currently in 4th place

RIO RANCHO — Rio Rancho Chef Joseph “Joe” Padilla was recently nominated for the “Favorite Chef” award, a competition put on by “Taste of Home” magazine.

The winner will take home $25,000 and cook with celebrity chef Carla Hall. Hall has appeared on TV shows “Top Chef” and “The Chew.”

“My son and late father inspire me to cook. When I took up cooking, initially I did not know what to do in life,” Padilla said.

Padilla has had quite the culinary journey, which began with his father, Joseph Padilla Sr., who was a chef at the Santa Fe Country Club in the early 2000s. His father passed away while he was in high school.

“He definitely inspired me. I remember growing up in the kitchen running around as a little guy while he was working ... he would always make me food,” Padilla recalled of his father.

After exploring some different career options at CNM, Padilla gave culinary arts a shot and never looked back, graduating with a degree in baking and culinary arts.

“When I stepped into the kitchen, everything clicked for me. I applied to be a line cook in a fancy restaurant ... I fell in love,” Padilla said. “Now, it’s just a daily grind of making my son and father proud of who I am becoming.”

Padilla has worked for Chef Marc Quiñones, who is the current head chef at Ex-Novo, and Padilla also served as the executive chef at Sobremesa. Padilla’s favorite food is duck carnitas, which he says is, “so versatile and can be used in so many different ways.”

“With food, I can be creative and express myself,” Padilla said.

Currently, Padilla is working as a sous chef under Richard Padilla, who is the the head chef at Flik Hospitality.

“I’ve worked with Richard my whole career, and he has always been there for me since I started,” Padilla said.

Padilla grew up in Rio Rancho and attended Colinas Del Norte Elementary School, Eagle Ridge Middle School, and then later, Cleveland High School. Padilla still calls the North Hills/Northern Meadows area home and is hoping to one day open a restaurant in the area.

“If you are unsure what to do in life, dabble in everything ... you never know? You might find yourself loving cooking or something else that you never thought of,” Padilla said.

When asked what he would do with the $25,000 prize, Padilla said, “I would use the money for my wife and get her citizenship here in the United States and start a pop-up.”

The deadline for voting is 8 p.m. Thursday, April 10.

To vote, visit favchef.com/2025/joseph-padilla.