Renowned head chef set to open Birmingham restaurant

Chef Robert Ortiz, whose London restaurant became the first serving Peruvian cuisine to gain a Michelin star, is set to bring his South American flavours to Moseley with the launch of a new restaurant, Chakana.

The site on the corner of Alcester Road and Woodbridge Road was a Lloyds Bank until it closed in 2016, with planning permission to convert it into a restaurant granted last year.

Chakana restaurant in Moseley

The new restaurant will be called Chakana, another name for the religious symbol the Inca Cross.

Robert Ortiz is a chef from Lima, Peru, who has been called a “pioneer of Peruvian cuisine”.

He grew up in the Amazonian section of Peru and started his career at the Costa Verde restaurant in Lima before coming to London. He spent several years at The Landmark Hotel and the Four Seasons at Canary Wharf before heading back to Peru for four years. He returned in 2012 to London’s Fitzrovia as head chef of restaurant Lima.

He gained his Michelin star in 2014, making Lima Europe’s first Peruvian restaurant to ever receive the honour. Chakana will be a separate venture for Ortiz, not involving the Lima Group, although he will continue to its culinary director.