- Written by: Mona Biedrzycka
The greatest restaurant in the world right now isn’t in Paris or Copenhagen or Bangkok. It’s in Lima, where the Pacific meets the Andes and where Maido — that’s “welcome” in Japanese — just became the no. 1 restaurant in the world, according to the jury of 1,120 culinary clerics behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. There are awards, and then there are coronations. This is the latter.
Maido is the temple of Mitsuharu Tsumura — “Micha” to the world — a chef who cooks like a diplomat and thinks like an anthropologist with a tasting spoon. Fifteen years into his project, he and his crew have landed Peru its second number one spot on the 50 Best list, following Central’s historic win in 2023. But where Central is cerebral, Maido is soulful. Less thesis, more theatre. Micha doesn’t just plate a dish; he scripts it, directs it, and plays supporting actor to ingredients that have rarely, if ever, had the chance to monologue.
Let’s get something out of the way: Nikkei cuisine — the now-world-famous fusion of Japanese and Peruvian traditions — is no longer a novelty. It hasn’t been for a while. What Maido does is not fusion. It’s not even a meeting of two worlds. It is a geography lesson taught with a scalpel, a chopstick, and a ceviche spoon.
There’s discipline here, make no mistake. Micha trained at Johnson & Wales and did time in the institutional kitchens of Japan — where knives are treated like talismans and timing is spiritual. But the joy of Maido is not in its perfection. It’s in its personality. There’s no starch in the white coats, no solemnity in the tasting notes. You get umami and mirth in equal measure. Micha’s food is elegant without being cold, intelligent without being coy.
At Maido, sea urchin flirts with avocado in ways that make European tasting menus look like boarding school fare. Amazonian ingredients — rescued from the brink of extinction or simple obscurity — are placed not on pedestals, but on chopsticks. Even his sashimi, glistening and cut to the millimetre, feels more like a poem than a product. And yet the room is filled with the vibe. There is laughter. There is salsa. There is, dare one say, fun.
“Maido is about having fun. It’s a creative restaurant, but it’s everything outside of a formal restaurant... The idea we have is to democratise deliciousness. That’s what we want to do.” said Micha
In Turin this week, at the gala hosted among the industrial cathedrals of Lingotto Fiere, Micha stood with a grin that could have fed a thousand guests. The win, he said, was “a dream come true” — not for him alone, but for his team, his family, and his country. One suspects it also tastes a little sweeter coming a year after the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award in Las Vegas, voted by his peers — the people who know exactly what it costs to reach the top and how much rarer it is to stay kind along the way.
What’s most remarkable about Maido, though, is that it has never chased this title. It was not engineered for the podium. It doesn’t carry the designer grimness of so many fine dining destinations that confuse seriousness with significance. Maido was built on one simple promise — that you can be great and still be human. That you can cook for the world and still know where you came from.
In Micha’s hands, Peru is not a flag or a trope. It’s a pantry. A grandmother’s memory. A coastline. A bowl of rice. A bottle of soy. It’s Nikkei, yes — but more importantly, it’s necessary.
And now, it’s number one.
Maido
Calle San Martín 399, Miraflores, Lima 15074, Peru
Tel. +51 1 3135100
www.maido.pe
Instagram @maido_lima
Facebook @MaidoLima
Twitter @maido_lima
Opening Hours
Lunch: Monday–Saturday, 12:30–15:00
Dinner: Monday–Saturday, 19:00–22:30
Closed on Sundays
Selected Awards
No. 1 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025
No. 2 on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024
Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024
Best Chef Awards – Three Knives
Photos from the World’s 50 Best Gala: View here
