SANTA FE, N.M. — Earlier this year, in a previous “Heart of New Mexico” segment, we first shared the checkered history of chefs Fernando Ruiz and Ralph Martinez.

Ruiz and Martinez are both felons, have been homeless – and are now working to give new opportunities to men leaving prison. They founded the Entrepreneurial Institute of Northern New Mexico (EINNM) and were previously allocated state money to start a re-entry program for people exiting prison.

Their restaurant, Escondido in Santa Fe, is operating as an extension of their larger mission.

“Escondido is actually a restaurant that belongs to northern New Mexico for a purpose,” Ruiz said. 

Half of the staff at Escondido restaurant in Santa Fe have been arrested at some point, according to Ruiz. 

“I got some MS-13 ex-gang members that work in the kitchen,” Ruiz said. “And they’re some of the best chefs in town.” 

Ruiz learned to cook in prison kitchens and gained wider acclaim after winning several cooking contest TV shows. Now with his partners, which include Meow Wolf co-founder Vince Kadlubek, Escondido is used as a landing spot for those needing steady work.  

“I have a busser who’s on an ankle monitor. I don’t expect him to be busser the rest of his life. He’s looking at getting a job with the city. It’s like, ‘Go ahead! I’m glad that you were able to plant your feet here for the next six months,'” Ruiz said.

Escondido’s newest hire is Miguel Tapia. At 48 years old, Tapia has spent much of his adult life bouncing from prison to dealing drugs and back. He most recently finished his latest sentence inside the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe.

While in, Tapia graduated from a cooking course Ruiz taught to people in prison.

“He was top of the class,” Ruiz said of Tapia. 

Tapia is the first person to get a job at Escondido after completing Ruiz’s cooking course. He was dropped at the restaurant immediately after his release.

“I just want to make the right choices, that’s ’bout it,” Tapia said. “That’s what I’ve been working on.” 

Tapia has never had a bank account, is still sleeping on someone else’s couch and is learning how to navigate life outside of crime for the first time in his adult life. 

Which begs the question… 

“Do you think he’s actually done screwing around doing drugs, runnin’ around town, and pretending you’re twenty-stupid when you’re already forty-something’?” Ruiz said. 

They think Tapia is ready to change his life. 

“It’s easy to pick up bad habits when you’re taught by the wrong person,” Martinez said.

“We all have to come out sometime. Whether you’re doing five, ten, two years, one year, ninety days,” Ruiz said. “At the end of the day, we’re all the same people. You know what I mean? And we’re cooking your food.”

Ruiz and Martinez are continuing to raise money to expand the programs the EINNM offers statewide.