James Beard Award Winning Chef’s Unflinching Immigrant Story Captures Hearts Far Beyond Houston — Maximo’s Adrian Torres Is a True Dreamer

Maximo chef Adrian Torres is more than just Houston’s latest James Beard Award winner, winning the national coveted Emerging Chef prize (and joining Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu of Jūn, who took home Best Chef Texas honors). He’s become a symbol of the silent battles immigrants often face in America, many who work in the restaurant industry that so many love.

The impact this humble 27-year-old chef is making is apparent. Both Torres’ James Beard speech and his Instagram post after went viral.

Wearing a Navy blue suit and a cowboy hat, Torres accepted the medal around his neck and then uttered these words to thunderous applause: “My mom sat my sister and me down and had a conversation with us I will never forget. ‘She said, ‘ Never tell anyone about your legal status. Never talk about our immigration journey.’

“For a long time, fear was our story. Today, standing on this stage, I want to say something that I thought my younger self would never have the opportunity to say: I am proud to be the son of immigrants. I am proud to be an immigrant. I am proud to be a DACA recipient.”

In the followup Instagram post, which has drawn more than 2.2 million views at last count, Torres’ speech lives on. “This week while many of us flew to Chicago, my family and I drove to be here, not because we wanted to take a road trip,” he says. “But because that is the reality that so many immigrant families still live with.

“Even in moments of celebration, there are reminders that our journey is different. But tonight I refuse to let fear be the headline. Tonight the headline is that a brown kid from the North Side raised by parents who sacrificed everything for the chance at a better life is standing on this stage accepting one of the highest honors in this industry.”

Torres and his family migrated from San Luis Potosi, Mexico through Laredo when he was just five years old. And like the nearly 400,000 Dreamers living in Texas, he considers the Lone Star State his home. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan, a Department of Homeland Security policy enacted under President Obama in 2012, grants temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to undocumented young people brought to this country as kids.

To qualify, recipients had to meet several strict requirements, pass background checks and regularly provide pertinent personal information to the federal government. Someone’s DACA status must be renewed ever two years. Torres is one of the more than 90,000 Texans currently in the program.

Adrian Torres’ Everyday Reality

DACA recipients in Texas, like Torres, face the most strident restrictions, with ongoing legal battles still to be decided. Barriers include the inability to obtain/renew Real ID-compliant driver’s licenses (which prohibit him from traveling by air) and ineligibility to qualify for federal student aid, state-sponsored financial assistance and in-state tuition rates. Nationwide, those with DACA cannot travel outside the United States without prior approval via Advance Parole, which is granted only in exceptional circumstances. These Dreamers cannot vote or apply for social assistance programs such as Medicaid or purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Recent regulations complicate rules for DACA recipients attempting to buy or register vehicles in Texas. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has also sharply limited which types of noncitizens can be licensed for a wide range of occupations from medicine and nursing to cosmetology, HVAC repair and construction.

Despite these hurdles, the studious Torres retains a quiet, optimistic disposition. He has worked in the restaurant industry since he was 18, including stints at notable Houston restaurants such as Hugo Ortega’s Xochi and Belly of the Beast in Spring near The Woodlands. For the last five years at Maximo, Torres has leaned on Mexican ingredients rarely seen on Houston menus, focusing on nixtamalized masa creations, shareable small plates and composed entrees.

Torres was inspired to create an accessibly priced chef’s tasting menu last year.

“Early in my career, I took a step back, and I realized that some of the restaurants here that aim to maintain the traditions of Mexican food are — for the exact people that they’re trying to represent — inaccessibly priced,” Torres tells PaperCity.

Torres’ tasting menu at Maximo rings in at just $45 with optional beverage pairing costing an additional $30 per person.

Torres is now testing recipes for his next five-course tasting menu, which will debut in mid-July. His focus is personal, inspired by the food from the state of his birth San Luis Potosi, a place he is prevented from returning to visit.

“My idea is to focus on each of the 31 states of Mexico and every 10 weeks create a menu inspired by that region,” he says. “For the San Luis Potosi menu, there is a chocolate maker my sister remembers. I want to collaborate with a distillery. And I’d like to find a worthy charity there to partner with too.”

This James Beard Award winner is a real Dreamer. And now a very public example for those fighting like him.

“An estimated 221,000 Texans are eligible for the DACA program, and 97 percent of DACA-eligible individuals are employed,” the American Immigration Council notes in its literature. “Together, they contribute $8.2 billion in household income and pay nearly $2 billion in combined state, local and federal taxes each year.

“Behind those numbers are real people — teachers, engineers, health care workers, small business owners and frontline employees. If work permits are revoked in Texas, the economic shock will ripple through classrooms, clinics, job sites and small businesses statewide.”

Adrian Torres is doing his own version of magic at the Michelin Bib Gourmand recognized Maximo, which is owned by Local Foods Group restaurateur Benjy Levit and partner Dylan Murray with culinary director Seth Siegel-Gardner.

Maximo is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 pm to 9 pm, Fridays from 4 pm to 10 pm, Saturdays from 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm, and Sundays from 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 9 pm. The restaurant is located at 6119 Edloe Street in West University Place.