Miguel Angel Medel has a sure cure for the barbecue blues. Shunning tired old recipes and sauces, the chef at Sandiago’s Mexican Grill transforms barbecue blasé into New Mexican zing by drawing on the zest of his Old Mexican culinary heritage.

Doug Smith and Russ Zeigler opened Sandiago’s just one year ago. Nestled at the base of the Sandia Tram in Albuquerque’s foothills, the grill complements their restaurant at the top of Sandia Peak, High Finance. The decor of Sandiago’s, however, is strictly Mexican beach hut. Brilliantly painted murals swirl over the walls; purple, orange, and teal fabrics cover the bistro chair seats; and whimsical tiles adorn the counter that separates the dining room from the open kitchen. This they wisely turned over to Medel, who rules his culinary roost with efficiency and zeal.

At 27 years old, Medel seems a tad young for such deftness in the kitchen, but he started early—“when I was old enough to grab a pan,” he says. His mother and grandmother were his models. To this day Medel’s grandmother still cooks for the large extended family in Puebla, Mexico. There, the day starts with scrambled eggs sprinkled with zesty jalapeño seeds. Lime and avocado cool things down at any meal. “Everything is fresh daily and there are no leftovers,” Medel says. Today the chef aims for the same goals in his own kitchen.
Medel cooks for 150 diners daily at Sandiago’s—and up to 300 during Albuquerque’s autumn balloon fiesta, when the restaurant is also open for lunch. Because he is preparing as many as 30 meals at a time, the chef grills almost non-stop. For Medel, efficiency is a must.

It all starts with a professional stainless steel refrigerated grill station. A half dozen pans sunk into the station’s top hold the basic sauces and glazes while the meat and fish stay cool in the station’s bottom drawers. (You can duplicate the station at home through judicious use of the refrigerator coupled with pans placed in an ice-filled chest.) In separate containers Medel keeps a mix of kosher salt and pepper for meat and, for fish, a rub of ground coriander seed and white peppercorns.

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