He was the leading chef at Astrid & Gastón in Lima, Peru, for five years and under his leadership that already-legendary restaurant climbed up to place 14th in the World’s Best Restaurant list, also occupying 3rd place on the Latin America list.
Last January he announced he was leaving the restaurant to go on a World Tour in which he is planning to study the foods of Panama, Miami, Oslo, Vienna, Zurich, Moscow, Macau, and Morocco. Having explored all cuisines from many different cultures, he was thinking about opening his own restaurant. Serving what? That he wasn’t sure, he said, but it will surely come to him along the way.
How did Aruba get on Chef Muñoz list of World Tour stops? I don’t exactly know, but I think it had to do with Chef Teddy, now the Director of Food & Beverage at the Marriott Aruba Resort & Stellaris Casino.
Chef Muñoz will be on Aruba on May 30th, and May 31th, creating a 5-course dinner at La Vista, for a limited number of lucky foodies, so make sure you call your reservation in early, #520 6342 or #520 6652, so that they save you a seat.
When I told Michael v/d Berg of Pepia Est that Chef Muñoz was coming, he cancelled his upcoming trip to Peru because he was going to travel to Lima to check out the chef’s cooking! Michael will personally be pairing the wines, in collaboration with Chef Muñoz, and Herdy ten Lohuis, to further enhance the dinner experience.
Recently, Chef Muñoz was named one of the top-four Nomadic Chef to watch, by New York Times Magazine. The trendy term Nomadic Chef indicates that he will not be tying himself down to a specific restaurant or place, but rather bounce around, hosting pop-up events and travelling, going to unfamiliar places with strange ingredients — which is so important for a chef with a culinary innovative streak.
According to Chef Muñoz, Peruvian Cuisine is now among the world’s most popular and ceviche is now a cooking technique, not just a particular fish and seafood dish. Ceviche he explains, can be made with just about anything from apples to avocado and mushrooms, but most importantly, food should always be fresh, local, seasonal and ingredient driven.
Don’t miss Chef Muñoz at La Vista, the “meteor in the global culinary scene,” $130 per person, wine-pairing included.
