Chef Ruben Hernandez
From the small mountain town of Mier y Teran Oaxaca, Ruben has over 10 years of experience in the culinary industry. Starting out as a dish washer, he grew into a line cook and eventually sous chef. Working in French, America and Mexican cuisine.
Born and raised in the small mountain town of Mier y Teran, Oaxaca Ruben a native Mixtec began nixtamalizing corn at the age of 7.
" We have a town Molino, you stand in line to get your corn ground into Masa"
The small indigenous farming community still grows their own corn and forages for anything they can't grow themselves.
"Growing up we used a wood burning stove, mom would make tortillas by hand every morning"
La Reyna del Sur became a way to pay homage to his mother, the community and his Mixtec heritage.
Mier y Teran continues to be an indigenous farming community . We source our ingredients from our family farm or from other members of the community to make sure we are getting some of the freshest, ethically grown ingredients adding to the complex flavor pallet of our dishes while supporting largely women run households.
Denver, Colorado
growing
When Chef Ruben moved to Denver, he connect himself with many Chefs including Jose Avila. He worked with him providing inspiration and helping him start X’tabai Yucateco food truck, and La Diabla Pozoleria .
Ruben laid the groundwork and added authenticity to Denver’s first in ground wood fired oven in the Westwood neighborhood. Just as Ruben did back in Oaxaca, he continues to prepare amazing traditional barbacoa cooked under the earth every weekend. Sourcing from the sheep from a small local farm in Greeley, CO.
After working in the service industry in some of the best restaurants in Denver ranging from American, French and Mexican, he respects the process of keeping with tradition no matter what style of cuisine.
We lovingly devote our Cocina to the traditions we grew up with. The smells that awoke our senses, and the flavors that make our souls rise.
Denver, Colorado
flourishing
2022
Yearning for the flavors of back home Ruben saw a missing space for traditional Oaxacan food so he set out to begin his own venture. Ruben and his wife purchased an air stream style trailer and started to turn his ideas into reality in 2022. They began working events and breweries establishing themselves and their reputation. They started doing Barbacoa in an in-ground wood fired oven every week and have now expanded as a weekend popup out of Re:vision co-op.
Working in the Denver food scene gave us so many experiences, we teamed up to bring the traditional flavors of Oaxaca to the city that we love. All of our dishes are cooked with love, recreating the dishes we grew up with and cook with ingredients that have been used for a millennia. Our mission is to preserve our cultural heritage by using traditional indigenous techniques and practices.