Gastón Acurio was born in Lima, Peru, in 1967. He has created an international empire, exporting Peruvian cuisine around the world. Acurio owns more than 44 international restaurants, including three locations of La Mar restaurant in the USA. He plans to open more restaurants around the world in the next two years, including in Washington, DC. Acurio is a television host in Peru and is met by tens of thousands of fans wherever he makes a public appearance. People have started endorsing Gastón Acurio as the next Peruvian president in several newspaper articles, Facebook fan pages, television debates and a new movie, Finding Gastón , from Peruvian director Patricia Perez. His main restaurant Astrid y Gastón is on the San Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants list at number 18. He won the lifetime achievement award at the Latin America Best Restaurants in 2013.