Chefs from different parts of the country have achieved the perfect alchemy of flavors in their dishes, which has placed their restaurants and creations among the best rankings worldwide, here are their stories.
Chilean flavors at Araya in Singapore
"It's very good when you receive recognition for your work" says chef Francisco Araya after obtaining a star from the "Michelin Guide" for his restaurant Araya in Singapore. "We are happy with the team, we all work with high standards". Together with his partner Fernanda Guerrero, a master pastry chef, they set up a restaurant on this island eight months ago, after living several years in Shanghai. An important gastronomic investor bet on their talent. With a capacity for 30 people, in this restaurant you have to wait weeks to get a reservation and it has a "smart casual" dress code, a mixture of elegant and informal.
"The restaurant is a tasting menu only, where we highlight the flavors of Chile and South America with a greater focus on seafood and tubers from the Andes," says Francisco. Lucuma, manjar and cherimoya have been the main protagonists of their desserts and people love them. As well as empanadas, chapalele, marraqueta and Chilean wine. Francisco Araya worked at El Bulli of the famous Spanish chef Ferrán Adriá, then his dishes were recognized in Japan and Shanghai. Together with Fernanda, they feel they are ambassadors of Chile in this part of the world and for them it is "a great responsibility to promote the flavors of our country".
The best Neapolitan pizza is Chilean
Chilean Daniela Zúñiga is the first South American to win the Pizza Caputo World Championship in Italy . The owner of the pizzeria Massa Míalocated in the town of Lo Miranda, O'Higgins Region, says that "competing with 600 professionals from all over the world was an odyssey. It was my first time in Naples, I didn't know the language, I just wanted to enjoy the experience of sharing with great pizzaiolos (pizza cooks). But, I never got a position to occupy the kitchen and the equipment to make the dough. I decided to make it by hand and I got in several hotels refrigeration, I think that made the prize more beautiful".
"I spent many hours studying, reading and watching videos, I knew that the STG category in Neapolitan pizza is very regulated, it requires a lot of technical knowledge and skill," says Daniela. In 2021 she started selling pizzas to order, then she installed some tables in the parking lot of her house, and now she has her own place. This self-taught pizza teacher has been part of the "Made by chileans" program for a few weeks, placing the Chile Brand on her products and highlighting the value of origin. "My main interest is that other entrepreneurs are motivated to show their work and to leave the country, it is difficult, but it can be done".
La Obra Ice Cream Parlor is the best in South America
The founder of the artisan ice cream parlor La Obra in Curicó, Juan José Orueta, was highlighted as the best ice cream maker in South America in the Gelato Festival World Ranking 2024, occupying 23rd place worldwide. "The fact that we are in this international ranking is something that I owe to my land El Maule, to the flavors that we find here, to the local producers, not only to my professional work. In Chile we have an enviable raw material".
This cook with 20 years of experience left Santiago and settled in Curicó, seeking a better quality of life for himself and his family. The pandemic forced him to close a bakery and stay with the production of ice cream, which today became La Obra. "Artisanal ice cream is a food of the future in which, through negative temperature, you can retain in time most of the nutritional properties of a product", such as the dried fruit and seasonal fruit ice creams, which in his opinion are the best of his business.
Valparaíso restaurant among 50 best discoveries
In Cerro Florida in Valparaíso is the restaurant "La Caperucita y el Lobo", considered among the "50 Best Discovery", an important ranking of the 50 places to discover in the world. It has been 11 years since chefs Carolina Gatica and Leonardo de la Iglesia started this culinary tale. "Everyone asks us about the reasons for the name. We chose it because it allows us to play on the menu, there is a drink called Caperucita, another wolf and hunter. We delivered the account in a book that looks like a story and there is a red cape hanging... but the inspiration came from the restaurant itself, the old house of Carolina's grandma Lucy, where all the family reunions were held."
"Our base of flavors comes from local orchards and seafood products such as clams, mussels, crabs, sea urchins, we are from soups and shredded meat. Our own flavors to which we incorporate modern techniques to differentiate us from other restaurants" explains Leonardo. A fairytale mansion where you can taste special flavors of Chilean cuisine, while enjoying the beautiful views of the port and its hills.
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