Virgilio Martínez
Program Co-founder
Central
Restaurant Chef and owner
Virgilio is the most talented Peruvian chef of his generation. In just a few years, he has obtained the most prestigious international awards. He is the only Peruvian chef who has been awarded a Michelin star, the most demanding gastronomic distinction in the world. He has also had the satisfaction of Central being recognized as the best regional restaurant in the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and as the best in Peru according to the Summum 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 awards.
Virgilio chooses to approach the great variety of our ingredients in a similar way to the one used by the Andean people in pre-Hispanic times: through the vertical control of the ecological floors.
Motivated by an endless curiosity and an interest in transmitting the complexity of his land, Virgilio is fascinated by traveling and researching ingredients not yet documented that may contribute even more to the local cuisine. Therefore, he travels different places: the ocean, low Andean areas, the extreme heights of the Andean mountain range, and the high and low forest. Additionally, he has an interdisciplinary team that complements every new "discovery" with the necessary context that aims beyond the strictly culinary area and dive into the nutritional, biological and anthropological aspects.
