As of January 30th Chef Diego Muñoz leaves Astrid y Gastón and Casa Moreyra, four years after coming back to Peru to lead the amazing kitchen of the world-famous restaurant.
Diego Muñoz has been heading Astrid y Gastón since 2012, including relocating and kick-starting this great project in San Isidro, and helped elevate the restaurant from #42 to current #14 on San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants List as well as #3 of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants List.
Before this he worked at Mugaritz and El Bulli where after he moved to Australia and revolutionized the kitchen at Bilson’s.
Chef Muñoz elaborates: “It’s a decision that I have processed for a while now after talking with my family and with Gastón and Irzio (Pinasco), whom I really thank for their understanding and support. As I explained to them, this is a decision based on personal and professional reasons related to the aims and future projects that I want to follow as chef”.
He continues: “I have nothing but thankful words for Astrid, Gastón and all the managing team, for their immense support throughout these years, believing in my culinary vision and leadership. It has been four years of hard work and great effort from all the ones that belong to the Casa Moreyra family, and we can see the results: the international recognition and the core place this project has both at the Peruvian and international gastronomic stage.”
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Widely renown as one of Latin America’s most talented and creative chefs, Diego Muñoz exquisite cuisine is flawlessly executed with a complex layering of flavors and attention to detail. An excellence the Godfather of Peruvian Cuisine, Gastón Acurio fully recognizes. On the occasion of Chef Muñoz leaving, Acurio states:
“Diego Muñoz is one of the finest chefs in the world. From his heart almost naturally new dishes and combinations never imagined before arise; both brilliant and moving, and always based in a perfect technique, learned consistently through years of training with the best chefs in the world.
This is why it has been so impactful for the Peruvian cuisine to have Diego as one of its main leaders. But it’s on the personal side overall that having him leading the kitchen of Astrid y Gastón in the past years has been a dreamed opportunity, pushing our cuisine to go forward without fear or boundaries. This is the freedom he leaves engraved in the walls of our kitchen.”
Diego Muñoz and Gastón Acurio.
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On future matters Diego Muñoz’s intention is to devote 2016 to culinary exploration, adventure and limited time-based projects around the world.
He has therefore made a partnership with Bon Vivant Communications in order to create a one-year calendar with the highest possible culinary value in a melting pot of different cuisines and cultures, and in that way find the culinary DNA for his future own restaurant to be.
Founder of Bon Vivant Communications, Kristian Brask Thomsen, states:
“We are both honoured and humbled by a culinary royalty like Chef Muñoz choose to have a partnership with us in his future quest, and the last month’s unofficial search behind the scenes has already resulted in highly interesting projects on three different continents. I’m furthermore positive that now that Chef Muñoz leaving Astrid y Gastón has become official many more opportunities will present themselves.”
Diego Muñoz has his last service at Astrid & Gastón Saturday January 30th.
After this he exclusively offers his gastronomic excellence for lectures, food festivals, consultancy, private dining and exclusive dinner parties.
In case of interest or/and press, please contact Kristian Brask Thomsen at:
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Bon Vivant Communication is a culinary embassy representing star chefs and restaurants, chateaux and high-end wineries as well as working close together with various luxury hotels, gourmets festivals and bespoke concierges services.
The diplomacy speaks to a strong network of 500 journalists, bloggers and writers, as well as 2000+ luxury diners around the globe.
Hungry for more? Then view the Culinary Fact Sheet of Diego Muñoz.
