Congratulations to Giuseppe Lacorazza of Fugaz, The MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2025 Young Chef Award winner, presented in partnership with Reserva de la Familia!
A small restaurant serving fresh food on a menu that changes almost every week, Fugaz is an exciting place to dine. With “comida rica” written on the front wall, Chef Giuseppe Lacorazza serves whatever he finds delicious that fits in the budget.
We spoke with Giuseppe to learn about his journey and advice for other chefs.
What inspired you to become a chef? Who do you look up to?
I come from a very culinary family where everyone is always involved and excited about cooking and eating. I think that devolved in me a curious palate and from then on, in the quest of eating delicious food as often as possible and to travel the world exploring that quest, being a chef became an appealing notion.
My closest mentors were Mercedes Solis in Argentina, Fabian Von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone in New York, and later my good friend Danny Newberg also in New York City and upstate. I’ve always admired Iñaki from Chateaubriand, Michel Bras, and in Colombia, where I grew up, Eduardo Martinez and Antonuela Ariza from Minimal, Harry Sasson and Juanita Umaña. The latter two were big inspirations for me as a young kid, because they were the first ones I saw developing a new type of modern and urban Latin American cuisine in Bogota. Then Minimal opened my mind.
What is a distinguishing characteristic about your food?
The food we make is always site-specific, it answers to what is available around us, who the cooking team is, how we feel, even the weather of the day, obviously. Seasoning-wise, it’s always acid-driven, high on vegetables and sauces, but very, very fresh. I want people to leave with a healthy gut and a light stomach so they can go about their day without feeling like the food caused a disruption of plans.
What motivates you in the kitchen?
Motivation is a life-encompassing specter, and I don’t think I can be motivated in the kitchen without being motivated about living, in general. To me that involves being able to cook delicious things for the people that I love, which means being around them. It also means doing new things constantly, having enough time to pursue other interests and having a balanced and interesting intimate life, being healthy, and being free, which means always having the possibility of walking out of whatever I’m working on, even if I never do it.
How do you motivate your team?
We try to offer them enough space to be able to explore other interests and to be rested. We try to keep the food and the wine list interesting enough, so with everyone's input we can learn about different styles, flavors or techniques. We never make the staff work more that the legal hours, and if they do they are compensated appropriately.
What advice would you give to a young person who wants to become a chef?
Being a chef is, as many other creative careers, beautiful but hard. I would advise them to pursue their own interests and not only what the environment surrounding them tells them to think about. Pursue those interests with the conviction that any input that we get in life is reflected in the food that we offer others, so any activity that is fulfilling is also feeding into your career and your job. Be free, don't just be a chef.
Hero image: Isabella Bernal / Giuseppe Lacorazza
