📋 Tender Overview
With Scholarship 18 from Pronabec, he studied at the Ventanilla Institute and worked in renowned Peruvian restaurants such as Astrid y Gaston and CentralRafael Bayona Leon is a Peruvian chef who has managed to stand out in international gastronomy after studying at the Nuevo Pachacutec Private Institute with the support of Scholarship 18 from the National Scholarship and Educational Credit Program of the Ministry of Education. His effort and discipline have allowed him to work at the Alchemist restaurant in Denmark, one of the most prestigious in the world and holder of two Michelin stars, the highest global gastronomic recognition.
Rafael grew up in the Ventanilla district, Callao, in a humble family where cooking was an important part of his daily life. In my house we have always cooked. I have been lucky to have my mother and my brothers living next to me; she was always involved in the housework and so was I, recalls the intern.
His passion for cooking led him to study at the Nuevo Pachacutec Private Institute in Ventanilla, whose mentor and founder is chef Gaston Acurio, with the support of the Pronabec scholarship. The Nuevo Pachacutec Institute always caught my attention to study cooking because I knew that chef Gaston Acurio was involved in this school, says Rafael.
Upon graduating after 3 years of studies, Rafael was chosen to do his internship at the Astrid y Gaston restaurant, and then at Central, where he spent seven years working as sous chef for Virgilio Martinez, whom he accompanied on countless trips to Colombia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, China and Italy representing Peruvian gastronomy.
In 2024, he participated in the San Pellegrino Young Chef contest, organized by the San Pellegrino water brand, in which he won first place in the Social Responsibility category with his Amazonas dish, which highlights Amazonian ingredients and techniques.
Currently, Rafael works at the prestigious Alchemist restaurant, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Alchemist is a restaurant that offers holistic, avant-garde cuisine, fusing haute cuisine, art, theater and technology in a sensory experience.
Rafael is interested in showing Peruvian biodiversity along with gastronomy, its culture, its knowledge and its people. He dreams of sharing and contributing his talent by creating his own restaurant with a concept with his own stamp. Today I have the opportunity to see new things and understand, perhaps in some way or another, gastronomy, says the 29-year-old, for whom discipline and passion for cooking have been the keys to success, as much as obtaining an opportunity like Beca 18.
In 14 years, more than 85,000 young people have fulfilled the dream of studying a professional career with the support of Beca 18. For more information about this and other educational opportunities from Pronabec, you can go to https://www.gob.pe/pronabec. If you have any questions, you can write to the WhatsApp channel at 914 121 106 or call the toll-free number 0800 000 18 and the telephone exchange (01) 612 8230.
