Maido takes No.1 at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025

In a history-making moment that has turned culinary heads in the direction of Lima, Maido has been named The World’s Best Restaurant 2025.

Taking the crown at this year’s event in Turin, the Nikkei powerhouse is hardly a stranger to praise, regularly finishing within the top 10 of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants lists. Since its debut on the ranking in 2015, it has been a fixture every year, while also taking the top spot of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurant four times and clinching No.5 globally in 2024. Suffice to say, it’s been quite the journey for the dynamo behind it all, chef Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura.

Maido specialises in Nikkei cuisine: the masterful fusion of Peruvian and Japanese flavours

Reflecting on the win, Tsumura says, “I can’t describe it in words really. It’s a mix of feelings… All the hard work, all the difficult moments, making people understand what we were doing, and now seeing what we’ve done with Nikkei cuisine and Peruvian cuisine… with hospitality. Making people happy has always been what I’ve loved doing.

“I think the most beautiful act of love is to cook for somebody. It’s the most beautiful thing that has happened in my life. It’s been 11 years [being ranked on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants] and it’s a dream come true.”

The story of Maido

The son of Japanese immigrants, Tsumura started his culinary life with formal training in the US before moving to Osaka, where he immersed himself in the techniques he now deploys at Maido. He returned to Lima where he briefly worked at the Sheraton, before opening Maido, aged 28.His cooking transcends what many call Peruvian-Japanese fusion: Maido’s menu is a love letter to Peru’s multidimensional terroir, brought into relief through deft Japanese technique. Since opening in 2009, the restaurant has evolved from a cult curiosity – which early on drew little attention – to a global gastronomic hit, serving as a standard-bearer for Nikkei cuisine the world over.

Maido’s status today is a far cry from those first few years, when Tsumura toyed with the idea of closing – something he reflected on after winning the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award in 2024. “One day, my father came over and just told me to persevere, and to continue believing in what you do. We still have a lot of Peruvians that come, and they would tell me, ‘don’t close, we love what you do’, and that kept us going. It was beautiful because Nikkei cuisine wasn’t well known in the streets, and now it’s known all over the world.”