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Going Up: How the Madrigal Family Made it to the Top

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When Rick Madrigal got tired of bagging groceries at the Piggly Wiggly, a buddy of his suggested he take a job at the Amarillo Club as a busboy. He started on May 5, 1974, and three days later was promoted to waiter. Within the year, Rick was waiting tables during the day and cooking tableside at night. He quickly became the nighttime Sous Chef, and by 1978, Rick was the Executive Chef. He was only 18 years old.

“I was kind of thrown into it, but I really enjoyed it,” Rick says. “I didn’t feel qualified, but there was a competition to get the Executive Chef position and I won. I considered culinary school but didn’t have the time. I was the Executive Chef until 1995 when Steve took over. Now I’m the General Manager.”

We’re sitting at a corner table in the Amarillo Club dining room. Located on the top floor of the Chase building, it has the best view of the Golden Spread, even from the kitchen. The round table is meticulously set without a single blemish on the crisp white tablecloth, and we’ve just heard the menu they’ll be cooking today: Chilean Sea Bass with Crab Cake on rice pilaf, the AC Walnut Salad, and for desert, a Trio of Crème Brulee, Lemon Tart and Chocolate Decadence.

Also at the table is Steve, Rick’s younger brother and current Executive Chef, and Martha, the Pastry Chef and Steve’s wife of 26 years. (Naturally, they met at the club.) Then there’s Jake, Rick’s youngest son at 24, and the club’s Sauté Chef.

It’s clear as each story unfolds that the Amarillo Club isn’t just about excellent service, exquisite food and the best wine available. As each chef takes a turn telling stories, you quickly realize it’s also about family.

Case in point – when asked if Rick steps in to help cook, everyone has an answer.

“I’ll cook when people go on vacation, or whenever they need me,” he says.

“I try to kick him out,” laughs Martha.

Steve interjects, “He always seems to drift back.”

“You ever see Hell’s Kitchen?” asks Martha.

Rick adds with a smile, “She gets upset with me sometimes.”

Their laughter reveals that this banter is normal, which begs the question of whether or not they leave work issues at work when it’s time to go home.

“Sometimes Steve has to tell me, ‘I’m off today,’ which means he doesn’t want to talk about work. We vent, and it’s harder for us since we’re married, so we do take it home sometimes,” says Martha. “It’s just normal when you care about it.”

And care, they do. Considering all of their children have worked, or helped, depending on age, at the Amarillo Club at one point or another, family is never far away. And while none have attended culinary school, each was taken under the wing of various AC chefs over the years and trained with precision and high expectations.

“I was really inspired by Werner Sanz. He was a German chef and was pretty adamant about how you cook something,” says Rick.

“He had strict standards,” adds Martha. “He gave me a recipe for soufflé and went over it with me. Then he said, ‘You make it,’ and walked away. I could’ve cried. I made it and it didn’t turn out. I made it again and made it wrong. Then I made it again and it was so pretty, so I put it under the heat lamp. I went right to him and brought him back to see it and it had sunk. I didn’t know it was one of those desserts that needed to go out right away. So he said, ‘Make it again.’ I wanted to cry, but I finally got it.”

Boy, did she get it. While cooking often has a subjective margin of error, a pastry recipe has no room to give. Martha is self-taught through trial and error, and if you ask enough people, you’ll learn that she makes the best crème brulee in town.

Martha moved from Arizona to Amarillo at 16 years old, coincidentally at the same time construction for the Chase building started.

“They were just barely starting the bottom, and I remember my uncle saying, ‘This is going to be a really big building,’ and for me, coming from a small town, I thought, ‘Wow!’” she recalls. “I was scared when I first came here because of the height, and then the tornados, but you get used to it. The chandeliers will move, you know.”

Rick and Steve moved from Nebraska to Amarillo with their mother as teenagers, and while neither foresaw a culinary life in their future, here they sit, fully involved, fully dedicated to the success and longevity of the Amarillo Club. It was established in 1947, which means that in the 62 years the AC has been in existence, the Madrigals have been there for more than half of it.

“One member actually said, ‘Oh this is the guy who owns the place,’ and I said, ‘I do not!’ They own it. I just say we take care of it,” says Rick. “Everything we do is for our members. If you nurture it, it’ll grow.”

It’s easy to see how members might confuse the managerial position with ownership. After all, when Rick starts talking about replacing ceiling tiles and taking care of other maintenance needs personally, it is clear there’s a genuine care and concern for the facility, the atmosphere and the overall feeling they want you to have when you dine or attend a special event at the club. “It’s the little things, like using crystal for the wine. It just tastes better in a thinner glass. I’m a stickler for perfection. You serve from the left, you pick up from the right. Service is something we’re all about because all we have is service, food and wine,” says Rick. “There’s no golf course on the roof.”

Jake, the quietest of the bunch, listens as his father, aunt and uncle talk about their long-time dedication to the club. It’s clear the Madrigal family will continue bringing the highest level of excellence to AC members, even into the next generation.

“I grew up here, so it’s like a second home. They’ve taught me everything I know. I worked under Martha for a while, plus I read The Professional Chef, which he gave me,” says Jake, pointing to his father. “My wife once said her grandma’s cooking was the best, but now she says mine is.”

by Jennie Treadway-Miller

Jennie was a columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press for eight years prior to moving to Amarillo in 2008. She is an avid reader, runner and writer.

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