Arvada chef wins Food Network’s ‘Chopped’

18 | ISSUE 36

City of Arvada resident survey shows general satisfaction, concern of public safety

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

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.

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 sacri ced 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 re 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. e restaurant is a spin-o of his wood re catering business; A Fuego. Padilla’s experience working with a variety of meat and open ames 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 lmed in New York in October.

“When they contacted me, I’m so proud to receive that invitation,” Padilla said. “ ey o ered me the opportunity to participate in two di erent episodes. at one I feel is better for me right now, because I’m an expert in open re; wood re is my heritage from my family, is the cuisine I want to do. Playing and working with re is my passion.” e third and nal challenge of the episode — the dessert challenge — was uniquely di cult 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.

Padilla’s passion carried him through the rst 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.

Improvising on the spot, Padilla explained in a frustrated confessional, “I’m not a pastry chef; I’m a wood re chef.” e 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 e City of Arvada shared the results during a Feb. 13 workshop. e 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. e survey was conducted by Probolsky Research; a market research rm based in California. is year’s survey was the rst that was sent to all residents over the internet, social media, through mailers, phone calls and the city’s website. e survey took about 20 minutes to complete and was o ered in English and Spanish, though only 2% of respondents answered in Spanish. e 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

“fair” and 5% rating it as “poor” compared to other municipalities.

Public safety and homelessness are at the top of residents’ concerns across multiple categories.

20.8% of respondents said public safety, drugs and crime are their top concerns, while 18.2% said homelessness was their most pressing worry. When asked to select which issues were most concerning, 67.4% said homelessness, 64.2% said crime in general and 64.2% said the conditions of roads, streets and sidewalks were also a concern.

Latino residents and those with an annual household income lower than $35,000 rank the availability of affordable housing as more pressing than other residents.

In terms of economic stability, 31.9% of respondents reported difficulty paying utility bills, 28.7% reported difficulty affording food, 21.5% reported difficulty paying for basic household needs and 18.5% said they have trouble paying rent or their mortgage. 46.7% of respondents did not report experiencing economic instability in these areas.

In terms of setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, 37.1% of respondents said general mental health has been the primary issue for themselves or their families.

68.8% of residents said they are satisfied with the services provided by the city, while 24.9% said they are not. Residents who have lived in Arvada for five years or less are more satisfied with the city’s services than long-term residents.

Similarly, 53.7% said they are satisfied with Arvada’s use of their tax dollars, while 39.2% said they are not. Residents over 65 tend to be more satisfied with how their tax dollars are being spent, survey results showed.

Growth and development seem to be a significant area of dissatisfaction, with 51.1% of residents saying they are unsatisfied with how the city manages growth and development. Residents over 40 and those who live in District 4 tend to be more unhappy about growth and development than other demographics.

More information can be found on the City of Arvada’s website.