Coco Tomita, Mayra Flores & Javier Miyasato

Coco Tomita Naganamine is chef and co-founder of Shizen Barra Nikkei, a restaurant in Lima that handles modern Japanese and Peruvian techniques with the philosophy of conveying experiences, passion and feeling.

His taste for food came from his grandmother, whose cuisine was a homemade mixture of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. He studied Restaurant Management and Administration at Le Cordon Bleu Peru and currently has more than ten years of experience specializing in Nikkei Cuisine.

Coco has worked in different restaurants and has traveled to promote Nikkei cuisine, both in Peru, and internationally.

He has also taught cooking classes at the Argentine Institute of Gastronomy, at Urban Kitchen in Peru and at Cocina Lab. Since 2020 he has been teaching classes at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He has attended food fairs, has cooked on television, and in other restaurants as a guest, and has undertaken various trips as part of his continuous learning about the world of cooking.

Coco's territory is the sea and the port, or more specifically, the markets where the little-known marine species that he seeks to discover arrive.

Mayra Flores is chef and co-founder of Shizen Barra Nikkei, a restaurant in Lima that gains more followers every day due to its innovative proposal.

She comes from the city of Piura. Her interest in her cooking began at a very young age. She learned northern and Peruvian recipes under the influence of her grandmother, her mother and her aunt. Mayra has been cooking since she was 19 years old. She left law school after two years, to study and dedicate herself fully to gastronomy instead.

She began her Gastronomic career at Le Cordon Bleu and finished it at the D ’Gallia Gastronomic Institute. She alternated her studies with practical restaurant experience. Later, she traveled to different parts of Peru to learn more about her culture and to consolidate a new Nikkei concept. She has developed unique flavors by incorporating Japanese techniques into her experience. Her first restaurant, Shizen Barra Nikkei, is a project that explores the flavors and textures of this cuisine,  together with chefs Renato Kanashiro and Jorge Tomita. Their aim is to reinvigorate the Nikkei tradition by bringing it closer to the flavors and products of northern Peru.

Javier Miyasato is a gastronomic entrepreneur and empirical chef. He comes from a family originally from the island of Okinawa, that pays tribute to food.

He studied Business Administration and Marketing at the Universidad del Pacífico, but left to pursue his true calling; cooking. His first encounter in a kitchen was as an assistant photographer and from that moment his passion became his work.

He then served as gastronomic director at Amoramar in Barranco. After a short time he was hired to develop new culinary businesses, and also take charge of the gastronomic proposal and lead an entire team. He directed the projects of Amor de Lima in Chorrillos and Café de Lima in Miraflores.

Today he is one of the owners and creators of BAO?, an oriental muffin restaurant inspired by Asian street food, and Sutorito Maketto, “street food” with a clear influence from Japanese street cuisine.