Peruvian food history is divided into two epochs: Before Gastón and After Gastón, when he opened his first restaurant in 1994 in Lima, Peru.
Following his father’s wish, Gastón Acurio went to Spain to study law in the late 1980s. During his studies, he discovered that his passion for gastronomy is stronger and switched his course to the culinary school ‘Le Cordon Bleu’ in Paris. This was also the place where he met his German wife Astrid Gutsche who is today a pastry chef. After working in several restaurants in France, the couple decided to return to Peru to open their first restaurant called ‘Astrid y Gastón in 1994. The restaurant was first a traditional and classic French restaurant as this was the most familiar cuisine to Gastón but also the most popular at that time. Furthermore, traditional Peruvian cooking was confined to the home and seen as unrefined. Over time, Gastón started to experiment with Peruvian ingredients, like the popular Aji chili which the asset of Peruvian cuisine, and started to cook typical Peruvian dishes and that’s why in 1998, their first restaurant became typical Peruvian cuisine oriented. From that moment on, Gastón introduced the world to the rich flavours and delights of Peruvian cuisine and succeeded in putting his native cuisine on the world map. ‘He is credited with rebuilding Peruvian pride through the rediscovery of their native gastronomy’. He became so popular amongst the inhabitants, that the community wanted him to run for President. With his mission in mind of ‘carry Peruvian culture to the world’, Gastón together with his wife, launched the Astrid y Gastón franchise that consists out of 44 restaurants including in the USA and Madrid. Next to the restaurants, the franchise also includes food festivals such as the famous Mistura food fair -which was first to launch in 2008-, cookbooks, cooking TV shows and a culinary school he opened for unprivileged kids.