Micha, as everybody calls him was born in Lima and since his childhood was very passionate about cooking. In September of 1998 he finished school and was admitted in Johnson & Wales University (Providence, RI – USA) where he studied the careers of Culinary Arts and Food and Beverage Management, on completion of the fourth year he graduated with honors with an associate’s degree in culinary arts and Bachelors in Foodservice Management.
While studying, he trained in various hotels and restaurants in Rhode Island and did his internship in Swissotel Lima. He also worked to develop along with the newspaper El Comercio ¨ The Great Encyclopedia of Peruvian Cuisine ¨ After graduating, he decides to go to Osaka (Japan) to specialize in Japanese cuisine where he worked in restaurants such as “Seto Sushi” and “Imo to Daikon” , the first specialized in sushi and the second in Izakaya style cuisine.
After his experience in the demanding Japanese kitchens, returns to Peru working for five years at the Sheraton Hotel in Lima, the first 3 years as Sous Chef where he learned about Peruvian cuisine. The last two years in his hotel career he was in charge of the F&B department having the Food & Beverage Manager position. His passion for Japanese and Peruvian cuisine led him to create Maido, a Japanese restaurant with Peruvian heart. In Maido he works with his team investigating and creating new culinary trends where Japanese and Peruvian cuisines live in harmony giving birth to Nikkei cuisine. He has participated in world gastronomy congresses such as Madrid Fusión (Madrid), Gastromasa (Turkey), Foro Internacional Gastronómico de la Papa (Spain) and SS Gastronoika (Spain).
His work to spread Peruvian gastronomy around the world not only focuses on Maido and his work as a speaker at national and international conferences, in 2014 he published his first book “Nikkei is Peru” and in 2018 he made the documentary “Perú: Tesoro escondido” (Peru Hidden Treasure), for the Netflix platform. In 2018 he was included in the prestigious The Best Chef Awards List, which recognizes the 100 Best Chefs in the world. Maido has not stopped winning awards since its opening, in 2012 it was recognized with the Best Japanese Restaurant Award according to the Summumm Guide, an award it won again in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In Latin America, in 2013 it was ranked 11th in the Latin Americas 50 Best Restaurants, in 2014 it climbed to number 7, in 2015 it rose to number 5, in 2016 to number 2 and in 2017 it was crowned number 1 in the Latin Americas 50 Best Restaurants. And on a global level, in 2015 it entered The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list at number 44, in 2016 it climbed to number 13 as Higher Climber (the restaurant that climbed the most places from one year to the next), in 2017 it reached number 8, in 2018 it climbed one position to number 7, in 2019 and 2020 it was ranked number 10, in 2021 it climbed again to number 7 and in 2022 it was ranked number 11 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.