Where a Two-Michelin-Star Chef Eats in Tokyo: Santiago Fernandez's Favorite Places
A phenomenal Tokyo edition
Welcome to the third edition of The Relisher’s Tokyo series! This week, I met with Santiago Fernandez, the head chef at two-Michelin-starred MAZ in Tokyo.
Chef Santiago has worked at some of the world’s top restaurants, including three-Michelin-starred Aponiente and Cocina Hermanos Torres in Spain. Following that, he served as Creative Chief at Central in Lima—named the best restaurant in the world—under Chef Virgilio Martínez.
He was later appointed head chef of MAZ, Central’s sister restaurant in Tokyo. Under his leadership, MAZ earned two-Michelin stars shortly after opening.
On a personal level, Santiago is one of the coolest chefs I’ve interviewed—great energy and the kind of warmth that makes you feel like you’re getting Tokyo recs from a friend. A friend who also happens to be a world-class chef and has lived in the city for over 15 years.
He shared all the places he takes visiting celebrity chefs—an inside look at where the culinary world eats when they’re in Tokyo, which he’ll elaborate on below. A Google Map with all the locations is included at the end of the article.