After much success with Central and MIL in Peru, this feted champion of Peruvian produce is crossing the Pacific for his next adventure in Tokyo with his first fine dining restaurant outside of Peru
Like many of his peers, star chef Virgilio Martinez has a deeply rooted respect for nature. And, as a champion of indigenous Peruvian produce, he has with his feted success on the world stage helped put the spotlight on these unique and often little-known ingredients. But he is confident he can do more, which is one of the reasons he is opening a fine dining restaurant in Tokyo, his first in Japan that was slated to open before the Tokyo Olympics in July 2020. This had to be put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Martinez has recently reassured that his new restaurant Maz looks set to open this summer (potentially by July) in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighbourhood.
“I used to focus on Peruvian culture and food itself,” Martinez tells Tatler Dining during a private showcase of some of the dishes he will be serving when the restaurant opens. The preview was part of the Cook Japan Project, which showcased international chefs, organised by the Granada restaurant group.
Following the construction of Mater Iniciativa (the biological and cultural research centre behind his award-winning restaurant Central in Peru) in Cusco three years ago, and the vast amount of research he has done since, he says he now better understands just how universal this idea of celebrating nature’s bounty is.
This new restaurant, he reveals, will allow him to “connect” diners in Japan and from around the world with native Peruvian villagers and farmers, whose lives are intrinsically “deeply connected with the nature”.
He shares how different their mindset is from those living in cities. To native Peruvians, he explains, their lands are not privately owned. They believe the harvests are “gifts” from nature, so they share these with everyone.
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