In 1994, when Peru was a country from where everyone wanted to leave, a couple of chefs (and lovers) would open the restaurant Astrid & Gastón.
They met and fell in love in Paris while studying cooking. His dream, however, was to settle in Lima to open a restaurant. They would do it only one year later. Walking one night in Miraflores, very close to the apartment where they lived, they found what would be their second home for 20 years. Then they had no way of knowing, but when they left a note with their information under the door of number 175 Cantuarias Street, Astrid and Gastón changed the course of their history. Of our history.
So the story goes as told by El Comercio, Peru’s national newspaper. The special article appeared in honor of the 25th anniversary of Astrid & Gastón, the couple’s famed restaurant.
This restaurant opened its doors on July 14, 1994, with a focus on haute cuisine. Today, Gastón Acurio is one of the most renowned Peruvian chefs in the world. He is considered responsible for the popularity that Peru’s gastronomy has today all over the world. He owns 50 restaurants in 12 different countries and has been awarded many times.
Astrid, originally from Germany, studied to become a pastry chef and has become a notable figure in that field in Peru. She has worked with Peruvian cocoa farmers and communities to find top quality cocoa for her chocolate delicacies; she has also been an outspoken advocate for fair trade and wages.
