GASTON ACURIO

Gastón Acurio Jaramillo (born October 30, 1967) is a Peruvian chef and ambassador of Peruvian

cuisine. He owns several restaurants in various countries, and is the author of several books. In
Peru, he is the host of a television program and contributes to culinary magazines.

Having studied law (expecting to follow his father’s footsteps), he then decided to change his path
and graduated in cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where he met his future wife Astrid Gutsche. He
also worked at some of the top restaurants in France including the famed three Michelin-starred Tour
d’Argent. In 1994, he returned to Peru to start his prominent career in Lima, with the opening of
Astrid y Gastón - which first served French-focused cuisine before finally embracing the traditional
Peruvian dishes.

His achievements include food festivals, cookbooks and restaurants spanning a range of themes and
price points, making them accessible to a broader clientele - something Acurio is focusing on more
and more. A significant milestone for his career (and for Peruvian cuisine itself) came in 2008 when
Mistura, a food festival and homage to the diversity of Peruvian food, was launched. The main focus
was to congregate people around the local food, gathering more than 400,000 visitors eating from
traditional food stands from all over Peru, as well as visiting exhibitions on conventional agriculture,
and cookery demos.

For example, Panchita is specialized in Peruvian anticuchos (local grilled beef heart on skewers), while
Madam Tusan is Acurio's take on the Chinese-Peruvian cuisine known as "chifa". But his original, high-
end bistro, Astrid y Gastón, is his most important restaurant, the jewel of the crown that made Acurio
one of the most important and influential chefs of world-wide gastronomy scene, making him appear
in the 50 Best List both in the world and Latin America.

Acurio is also a winner of the Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award, first in Latin America’s 50 Best
Restaurants in 2013, and then also elected by the voters of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2018.