In Buenos Aires, the cuisines of the crisis are still very much alive. A few classics, among which Aramburu stands out, show the spirit of resistance of a generation that claims its past and its path. The work of its creator and chef, Gonzalo Aramburu, draws the market's attention to one of the last holdouts of the advanced cuisine that was at the forefront of Argentine haute cuisine in the first decade of the 21st century.

Refined, sometimes sophisticated, always tied to the territory and committed to the cuisine of his time, he has withstood the conflicts that have shaken Argentine gastronomy, demonstrating a consistency based on his capacity for reflection and a remarkable mastery of the most advanced culinary techniques. Aramburu's proposal presents him as a unique element, almost a rarity, in the current panorama of Buenos Aires cuisine.

The work of Ignacio Ovalle (La Calma by Fredes, Santiago de Chile) opens the door to the spectacular Chilean seafood as it comes from the sea - oysters, locos, limpets, machas, piures, sea snails. etc. - and settles in with a cuisine that cooks the fish whole and works the heads, turning it into a festival of textures and flavours, as in his glazed grouper head with lamb demi glaçe. There is magic in some land and sea preparations, such as the veal tongue with piures and oysters (scallops, mussels). A proposal that transcends and elevates it to the category of cult restaurant; there is as much cuisine as there are intentions.

One of the chefs who will use water as an argument in his presentation is the Colombian Jeferson García (Afluente, Colombia), a specialist in cooking with spring water.

New Nikkei cuisine

After almost twenty-two years of showing the growth, explosion and flow of Peruvian cuisine, Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España is changing the way Peruvian cuisine is seen. Rafael Piqueras - representing the now defunct Fusión restaurant - was the first Peruvian chef to appear on a stage that would see almost all the references that counted and count: Gastón Acurio, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino, Héctor Solís, Mitsuharu Tsumura, Juan Luis Martínez, Virgilio Martínez...

For the 2024 edition, Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España is turning its attention to Peruvian chefs working abroad, bringing together veterans and youngsters in a trio of professionals and restaurants based in Miami.  It will be a review of the 'new Japanese cuisine'. On one side is Diego Oka, the veteran chef and director of La Mar by Gastón Acurio, the Peruvian cebicheria branch of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Diego has made a name for himself with a mixed cuisine that is both Peruvian and Japanese. Recognised as one of Miami's most imaginative and progressive chefs, he uses the cuisine of the sea to transform and elevate traditional Peruvian recipes, adding a touch of sophistication and refinement.

Siblings Valerie Chang (Maty's) and Nando Chang (Itamae) were in the spotlight of the North American food press in early October. While Food & Wine named them among the ten best chefs in the United States, Bon Appetit named Maty's one of the 24 best openings of the year, and The New York Times included Valerie Chang's restaurant among "the 50 places in the United States we're most excited about". If Maty's, Valerie's restaurant, began to take shape last March, Itamae, the family restaurant founded by her father and now run by Nando's, has just completed its transformation into a twelve-seat bar. The freshness of Valérie's young proposal is set against the values of Nando's Nikkei haute cuisine.