Meet the Masters: Peru’s Top Chefs and Culinary Stars

Peru chefs are among the best in the world, creating culinary masterpieces that reflect the rich history and diverse flavors of the country. Peru is home to so many wonderful things, including its world-renowned cuisine, which has been elaborated and improved over the course of the country’s history.

peru chefs

Little by little, chefs from all over the country began the arduous task of innovating different dishes.

But the real innovation and development of great products is the famous chef Gaston Acurio, who in turn gave value to the fields, visiting the producing communities of all that is offered in this magnificent country.

Gaston Acurio

Is a Peruvian writer, businessman and chef. He is one of the main promoters of Peruvian gastronomy

In 2007, Acurio founded the Pachacutec Cooking School,2 dedicated to training low-income youth as cooks and waiters. During 2015, Acurio also announced a joint project with the Universidad Catolica (Catholic University), for gastronomic education. Today Acurio leads a company with more than 3,000 employees, present in 13 different cities with 11 different concepts and brand

Since the opening of his restaurant Astrid & Gastón in 1994 in Lima, Acurio has opened more than 40 restaurants dedicated to different specialties of Peruvian food, in 11 countries around the world.

In Peru Gaston has developed different gastronomy business such as: Astrid & Gaston, Tanta, La Mar, Panchita, Bodegon, Chicha, Papachos, Barra Chalaca and others around the work, including the Manko Doha in Qatar

Rafael

Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rafael Osterling constructs a seafood-first menu that crosses culinary borders at his eponymous establishment. The restaurant, open for almost two decades, regularly grabs a starring role among Latin America’s 50 Best. Housed within an impeccable art-deco mansion in the upscale Miraflores neighborhood, Rafael mixes up Peruvian, Italian and Japanese flavors and ingredients. There is pizza, pasta, ceviche, tiradito, sashimi, carpaccio and risotto, all cooked and presented with flair. Enjoy a seat at the stylish cocktail bar over a refreshing chilcano.

Virgilio

Is a Peruvian Chef and entrepreneur and one of the representatives of the new generation of Peruvian chefs promoting the diffusion of Peruvian Gastronomy. He is known for his use of Peruvian ingredients in his style, which he defines as “market cuisine” or “signature cuisine. “According to Mary Claire Magazine magazine, he is “the new star in Lima’s gastro firmament, “and “a new king in the land of ceviche,” according to Chile’s La Tercera. In 2017, his restaurant Central was ranked number 5 in the World’s Fifty Best Restaurants by Restaurant Magazine, and number 1 in Latin America. In 2017 he was also recognized “with the Chefs’ Choice award, an award that is decided according to the vote of the chefs themselves.

Toshiro Konishi

Known as Toshi, this chef, born in the land of the rising sun, became interested in gastronomy at the tender age of five while watching his grandfather cook among spoons, jugs and pots. His cuisine is a unique and original combination of the most delicate techniques and ingredients of Japanese cuisine with Western culinary tradition.  He is the owner of the famous Toshiro Konishi restaurant.

Flavio Solorzano 

Flavio was born in Lima in 1974 and before becoming a chef, he was a “student” of his grandmother, who saw in him a great knowledge and appreciation for the root of the flavors, in the restaurant that today directs and manages, and which is one of the best restaurants in Peru; El Señorío de Sulco, based on the enhancement of regional cuisine and innovation on it. He is considered one of the main ambassadors of Peruvian gastronomy around the world, carrying a message of futuristic projection. In addition to being a chef, he works as an advisor to different companies in the development of flavors and gastronomic proposals, he is a chef instructor in the main schools of Peruvian gastronomy.

James Berckemeyer

Is a Peruvian chef and entrepreneur who began his training at the renowned restaurant Astrid y Gastón. In 2004 he completed a Master’s Degree in Cuisine in Italy. He later worked at Agli Amici, a prestigious restaurant with 2 Michelin stars. He is owner and Chef of COSME restaurant, Pánguche and Alado Restaurant.

And you can be absolutely sure that there are many more internationally renowned chefs with great restaurants.  In Peru food is a total lottery winner.

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