Big congratulations to Chef Mitsuharu “Micha” Tsumura and the entire Maido team in Lima for taking the top spot on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. It’s official, Nikkei cuisine is having its global moment, and Micha is one of the biggest reasons why.
I met Micha nearly a decade ago on a battered fishing boat off Peru’s northern coast, near Cabo Blanco. I was directing a film for PROMPERÚ with WhereNext Creative. He showed up like a culinary MacGyver, paper bag in hand, packed with a salt shaker, a couple of lemons, some mystery seasonings, and a knife, all of which he’d picked up between the car and the dock.
After catching his first fish, Micha balanced a cutting board on the boat rail, worked in silence, then handed me the best ceviche I’ve ever had. No ego, no show, just perfection in a cracked bowl. And now, nearly ten years later, he’s officially the chef/owner of the best restaurant on the planet.
But it’s not about the ranking.
Watching Micha tear up on stage during the ceremony said it all. It wasn’t about trophies. It was about the fishermen. The sea. The ingredients. The community. All of it. You could feel it.
That night back in Cabo Blanco, we grilled fish at our rental house. Micha told me, “For killer barbecue, you only need three things: lemon, salt, and the right cooking temperature.” I floated in the pool after dinner, still tasting that charred rock bass, thinking, give this guy a butter knife and a lump of coal and he’d still outcook most of the Michelin list.
We reconnected in 2023 at a private tasting event in Bogotá that he attended as a chef. I brought a few team members from WhereNext Creative. We chatted briefly, laughed about that fishing trip, and he was as humble and laid-back as ever, seemingly unaware that just two years later, his restaurant would be crowned the best in the world.
Micha is one of the reasons I was inspired to launch WhereNext DMC in Peru, with Lima native Fiorella Freyre leading the charge. Because Peru isn’t just a destination. It’s a feeling. A flavor. A taste that stays with you forever.
Felicidades, Micha. Now, who’s hungry?
#FeelSomething
