Mitsuharu Tsumura, known as Micha, is the Peruvian chef-owner of Maido in the Miraflores district of Lima, the restaurant named The World Best Restaurant 2025 at The World 50 Best Restaurants ceremony in Turin on 19 June 2025. Born in Lima to Japanese immigrant parents, Tsumura trained at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, moved to Osaka to specialise in Japanese cuisine, then returned to Peru where he opened Maido in October 2009, aged 28. Maido has remained the defining restaurant of Nikkei cuisine since its opening.
Maido is currently No. 1 on The World 50 Best Restaurants 2025, having climbed from No. 5 on the 2024 list. It has topped Latin America 50 Best Restaurants four times and has appeared continuously on the World 50 Best since its debut in 2015. Tsumura won the Estrella Damm Chefs Choice Award 2024, voted by other chefs. In 2025 he opened Karai by Mitsuharu at the W Hotel in Santiago, Chile, translating his Nikkei philosophy through Chilean ingredients. Karai debuted at No. 45 on Latin America 50 Best Restaurants 2025.
TL;DR
- Peruvian chef born in Lima to Japanese immigrant parents
- Chef-owner of Maido in Miraflores, Lima (opened October 2009)
- Maido named The World Best Restaurant 2025 at 50 Best ceremony in Turin, 19 June 2025
- Four-time winner of Latin America 50 Best Restaurants No. 1
- Opened Karai by Mitsuharu at W Hotel Santiago, Chile, in 2025
Mitsuharu Tsumura key facts
| Born | Lima, Peru (son of Japanese immigrants; family arrived in Peru in 1889) |
| Nickname | Micha |
| Nationality | Peruvian (Japanese heritage) |
| Main restaurant | Maido, San Martin 399, Miraflores, Lima (opened October 2009) |
| World 50 Best | No. 1 (2025); No. 5 (2024); on list since 2015; 4x Latin America 50 Best No. 1 |
| Style | Nikkei cuisine; Japanese technique applied to Peruvian ingredients; more than 10-course tasting menu |
| Training | Johnson & Wales University (Rhode Island, USA); Osaka, Japan; Sheraton Lima |
Early life and training of Mitsuharu Tsumura
Tsumura was born in Lima, the son of Japanese immigrant parents. His family arrived in Peru from Japan in 1889, part of the wave of Japanese agricultural immigration that shaped the cultural and culinary landscape of coastal Peru and gave rise to what is now called Nikkei cuisine. Nikkei refers to the Japanese diaspora community in Peru and, by extension, the cuisine they developed by applying Japanese knife skills, broths, and fermentation to Peruvian fish, chillies, tubers and fruit.
Tsumura studied at the College of Food Innovation and Technology at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, one of the leading culinary schools in the United States. On his Japanese father advice he then moved to Osaka for an extended period of training in Japanese cuisine, focusing on sushi, cutting, fish curing, and traditional Japanese broth techniques. He returned to Lima and worked briefly at the Sheraton before deciding to open his own restaurant at age 28.
Maido opened in October 2009 in Miraflores, the upmarket coastal district of Lima. The name is the Japanese greeting まいど used to welcome regular customers (always, meaning thank you for your continued patronage), and is the first word diners hear on arrival. The early years were slow, with around 30 dishes sold per day, and Tsumura considered closing or relocating. He has said his father told him to persevere, and an invitation to the Mistura food fair took him across Peru learning about native ingredients that shaped the modern Maido menu.
Mitsuharu Tsumura career timeline
- 1889: Tsumura Japanese ancestors arrive in Peru
- Childhood: Born in Lima; passionate about cooking from early years
- Late 1990s: Studies at Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island
- Early 2000s: Moves to Osaka to specialise in Japanese cuisine
- Mid-2000s: Returns to Lima; works at the Sheraton as sous chef
- October 2009: Opens Maido in Miraflores, Lima, at age 28
- Early 2010s: Contemplates closure; invited to Mistura food fair which reshapes the menu around Peruvian native ingredients
- 2015: Maido debuts on The World 50 Best Restaurants
- 2017: Named Latin America Best Restaurant for the first time
- 2018: Ranked No. 7 on The World 50 Best Restaurants
- 2024: Ranked No. 5 on The World 50 Best; wins Estrella Damm Chefs Choice Award
- 2025: Opens Karai by Mitsuharu at W Hotel Santiago, Chile; debuts at No. 45 on Latin America 50 Best 2025
- 19 June 2025: Maido named The World Best Restaurant 2025 in Turin
- 2026: Maido continues as the current No. 1 World 50 Best Restaurant
Mitsuharu Tsumura signature style: Nikkei cuisine at world-class level
Tsumura central argument is that Nikkei cuisine is neither Japanese nor Peruvian but its own tradition, the result of 130 years of Japanese-Peruvian community cooking. Maido menu applies Japanese technique (precise knife work, dashi-based broths, tempura, sushi and sashimi cutting) to Peru unusual biodiversity. The tasting menu is built around rare ingredients from the Andes, Amazon and northern Peruvian coast: yellow chilli pepper (ají amarillo), Amazonian river fish, Andean tubers, Peruvian sea snails, and native herbs.
The kitchen most famous dish is the 50-hour short rib, braised for just over two days until it reaches a texture so tender a diner can eat it with a spoon. Other signatures include the Triple (avocado, egg, tomato, and chashu-style braised pork belly as a Nikkei reinterpretation of a Peruvian street-food sandwich), sushi a lo pobre (poor-style sushi with beef instead of fish, an explicit crossover of Peruvian working-class food with Japanese nigirizushi), caracoles al sillao (sea snails with yellow chilli foam and Nikkei sauce), and squid ramen with Amazonian chorizo.
The philosophy Tsumura states repeatedly in interviews is democratise deliciousness. The Maido Experience tasting menu is more than 10 courses, served across two floors with about 52 seats. The restaurant argument is that a world-class kitchen can be informal, warm, and accessible rather than stiff and ceremonial. The approach shares DNA with other Latin American kitchens such as Leonor Espinosa Leo in Bogotá and Helena Rizzo Maní in São Paulo, though the specific Japanese-Peruvian synthesis is Maido alone.
Notable dishes at Maido
Several Maido dishes have become reference points in modern Latin American fine dining. The 50-hour short rib is the restaurant most-cited headline course. The Triple is a Nikkei reinterpretation of the Peruvian sandwich of the same name, with avocado, tomato, egg and chashu pork belly. Sushi a lo pobre uses beef over rice topped with a quail egg and onion, seasoned with chilli and soy. Caracoles al sillao serves Peruvian sea snails with yellow chilli foam and Nikkei sauce. Squid ramen with Amazonian chorizo and Andean tuber noodles merges two fundamental Japanese-Peruvian food traditions. Guinea pig (cuy, a traditional Andean meat) is fried in duck fat and garnished with cassava cream, an example of Tsumura applying Japanese technique to Andean ingredients that most fine-dining kitchens overlook.
Mitsuharu Tsumura awards and recognition
- 2015-present: Maido on The World 50 Best Restaurants continuously
- 2017: Latin America Best Restaurant for the first time
- 2018: No. 7 on The World 50 Best Restaurants
- Four-time winner of Latin America 50 Best Restaurants No. 1
- 2024: Estrella Damm Chefs Choice Award (voted by other chefs)
- 2024: No. 5 on The World 50 Best Restaurants
- 19 June 2025: The World Best Restaurant (The World 50 Best Restaurants, Turin)
- 2025: Opens Karai by Mitsuharu, Santiago, Chile; debuts at No. 45 on Latin America 50 Best 2025
Mitsuharu Tsumura impact on Peruvian gastronomy and Nikkei cuisine
Tsumura most concrete contribution is establishing Nikkei cuisine as a global fine-dining category in its own right, separate from Japanese or Peruvian labels. When Maido opened in 2009, Nikkei was a concept that existed in the Peruvian-Japanese community but was rarely articulated as a distinct cuisine in Western fine dining. The 2025 World Best Restaurant win in Turin was, for many observers, the moment when Nikkei cuisine became globally recognised as a cuisine rather than a fusion.
The second contribution is the mentorship and international expansion model. Karai by Mitsuharu in Santiago is led by chef Sebastián Jara, trained under Tsumura, working alongside Gerson Céspedes, who previously led Karai kitchen. Tsumura visits regularly to ensure continuity. This is a deliberate alternative to the more common franchise model of international expansion, where a name is licensed without continued chef involvement. Similar training-first expansions have been led from Peru by Virgilio Martínez at Central, whose Mater Iniciativa research group has parallels to Maido Mistura-era menu development.
Within the current Latin American generation Tsumura sits at the top of a tier that includes Gaggan Anand in Bangkok (who applies parallel Indian-Japanese-Southeast Asian synthesis), Virgilio Martínez at Central Lima, and the Peruvian Pía León at Kjolle. Across Latin America his peers include Colombian and Brazilian chefs working on comparable terroir-forward modern cuisine with specific cultural DNA.
Mitsuharu Tsumura FAQ
Is Maido the No. 1 restaurant in the world?
Yes. Maido was named The World Best Restaurant 2025 at The World 50 Best Restaurants ceremony in Turin on 19 June 2025. It climbed from No. 5 on the 2024 list and has appeared on the World 50 Best continuously since its 2015 debut. It has also topped Latin America 50 Best Restaurants four times.
Where is Maido?
At San Martin 399 in the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru upmarket coastal neighbourhood. The restaurant opened in October 2009 and occupies two floors with approximately 52 guest seats (down from 78 before the COVID-19 pandemic).
What is Nikkei cuisine?
Nikkei is the cuisine developed by the Japanese diaspora community in Peru over the past 130 years, combining Japanese technique (knife skills, dashi, tempura, sushi) with Peruvian ingredients (yellow chillies, Andean tubers, Peruvian fish, sea snails, native herbs). Tsumura and Maido are the best-known global exponents of the cuisine, which is now recognised as its own tradition rather than Peruvian-Japanese fusion.
What is Karai by Mitsuharu?
Tsumura second restaurant, opened in 2025 at the W Hotel in Santiago Las Condes district, Chile. Karai translates the Maido Nikkei philosophy through Chilean ingredients. It is led by chef Sebastián Jara, trained under Tsumura, with Gerson Céspedes as executive chef of the W Santiago. Karai debuted at No. 45 on Latin America 50 Best Restaurants 2025.
What does Maido mean?
Maido (まいど) is a Japanese greeting used to welcome regular customers, translating approximately as always or thank you for your continued patronage. It is the first word diners hear on arrival at Tsumura restaurant and reflects both his Japanese heritage and the restaurant emphasis on warm hospitality.
What is next for Mitsuharu Tsumura
Following the June 2025 World Best Restaurant win and the 2025 opening of Karai in Santiago, Tsumura remains focused on Maido as the core of his work while developing the Karai model for potential expansion. Menu development at Maido continues with Peruvian native ingredients from the Mistura-era network, and Tsumura has signalled ongoing interest in Japanese-Peruvian historical cuisine research. His public Instagram (@mitsuharu.tsumura) is the best source for current updates.
