FERNANDO NAVAS

Corporate Chef SUSHISAMBA Restaurants

My favorite SUSHISAMBA dish: Chilean Sea Bass

My favorite SUSHISAMBA drink: Acai Samba Juice

SUSHISAMBA dish I helped create: Rock Fish a la Planca

 
My cooking style in a nutshell: Colorful, inventive, and always up for something new

“To execute simplicity well, you really have to know what you are doing - it is one of the hardest things to achieve brilliantly.”

 
With his acute knowledge of essential South American flavors (he trained in Argentina), Fernando’s role as Chef de Cuisine - and now, the Corporate Chef of SUSHISAMBA restaurants -  is an incredibly natural one.  His deep love of seafood is displayed in one of the restaurant’s newest plates – Scallop Gyoza with Garden Vegetables, Oregon Black Truffles and Flowers.  The dish thrives on simplicity, combining only a few key flavors that beautifully highlight the true essence of the fish.

As the hard-working leader of SUSHISAMBA's culinary team, Fernando thrives on the restaurant's group energy and committment to culinary excellence. His blog, Ingredient, is about 'discovering, tasting, making and re-making,' allowing fans of SUSHISAMBA and Fernando to track all things fresh and fabulous from the U.S., Japan, Brazil, Peru and beyond.

The Backstory

Recently, Fernando was the recipient of a prestigious externship opportunity at elBulli, Ferran Adria’s world renowned restaurant in Spain.  Only 50 chefs are selected from a pool of over 6,000 applicants to gain first-hand experience cooking with the master chef.  Fernando cooked 12 hours each day to help prepare the restaurant’s rotating tasting menu of 36 plates.  Immersed in the company of passionate cooks and with mentors such as Oriol Castro and Ferran himself, Fernando gained seminal culinary insight that he incorporated into the menu at SUSHISAMBA park.   Dishes include playful juxtapositions of temperature, technique and color, showcasing the chemical wizardry he learned at elBulli. 

Chef Fernando Navas Highlights:

• Member of SUSHISAMBA team since September 2006
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• Culinary training program at the Escuela de Gastronomia in Mar del Plata, Argentina
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  Ascended through the culinary ranks at Sheraton resort in Mar del Plata
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• Worked at Grass Restaurant and Lounge in Miami
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• Worked at Nobu Miami as chef de partie, moving on to becoming sous chef, and contributed to the opening of Nobu, Paradise Island in 2006