Latin America's most exciting restaurant is an Ecuadorian omakase

At this rising star in Guayaquil, diners enjoy fresh Pacific catches, Ecuadorian traditions and Japanese style.

Set on a tiny island in Plaza Lagos just outside the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, simply getting to Üeya is part of the experience. Diners cross a bridge to the island and walk through a leafy forest dotted with iguanas before arriving at a lake – but only those with a reservation can make their way over to the island at its centre. "It feels a world away from the city," explains co-owner and head chef Juan Camilo Saman, who is just 32.

Saman's route into professional cooking was unconventional. He didn't go to culinary school, instead studying entrepreneurship and marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. "I really like that about my journey," he says.

Cooking began as a hobby, then grew into what he describes as a "sane obsession". Learning how to run a business first, then learning how to cook has proved key to his success: "Doing it backwards was great."

Head chef Juan Camilo Saman worked as a private chef before opening Üeya

The name Üeya is a variation on the Spanish word 'huella', meaning fingerprint. For Saman, it captures his ambition to leave an indelible mark. "We want to leave our own fingerprint in Ecuadorian gastronomy with the unique fusion we're making," he says. 

Omakase trailblazer

When Üeya opened in March 2024, it was Ecuador's first omakase restaurant. The space has just 11 seats and there is no menu available to view, with guests' dinner choices in the hands of the chef.

Diners pay in advance for 17 courses, don't know who they're dining with and choose between just two seatings, 19:00 or 21:30 – all elements rarely seen in Guayaquil before. Opening this style of restaurant was a leap of faith for Saman: "There were so many things people thought couldn't work and we broke those rules."

Üeya's colourful dishes celebrate Ecuadorian produce, such as tuna and green plantain

Saman pursued his vision with faith – he'd spent three years working as a private chef, six days a week. "I basically had a restaurant," he laughs. This period formed the best possible market research, building a customer base through word of mouth. Those people became Üeya's first diners, with the restaurant's books filling with a solid month of reservations before it even opened.

Ecuador on a plate

Japanese and Latin American fusion cuisine, known as Nikkei, is usually associated with Peru, where years of migration has afforded it a distinct identity. Saman hopes to see this cooking style transcend borders. 

"We're a fine-dining restaurant fusing Ecuadorian ingredients from all the regions of the country, including our best fish, with traditional and modern Japanese techniques," he says. The menu brings together his favourite Japanese food with his Ecuadorian heritage and its diverse regions, from the Pacific coast, Andes, Amazon to the Galápagos Islands. "It's a match made in heaven," says the chef.

Saman's style isn't simply transplanting Japanese dishes to Ecuador, though. He uses Japanese techniques to reinterpret local recipes and traditions, keeping the essence of the country central to the menu.

Head chef Juan Camilo Saman (far right) with his team

One dish distils this philosophy into a single bite. Inspired by la cangrejada, a traditional coastal gathering centred on eating mangrove crab, it captures a ritual in which families and friends crack the crabs' shells with hammers, drink beer and talk for hours.

Saman's interpretation combines a crab-filled maki with onion and tomato dressed in lemon, a ponzu sauce made using the crab's head for umami depth, served in the crab shell alongside a small shot of beer, reimagining an entire social tradition into a few carefully constructed mouthfuls.

Sea change

Saman's mission to incorporate Ecuadorian ingredients extends beyond the kitchen. He believes Ecuador's finest produce too often leaves the country before local chefs and diners have the chance to appreciate it. "The best cocoa and bananas go, and the best shrimp is made for export," he says.

To change that, he spent six years developing a direct fish supply chain, working with fishers in three distinct regions across the country, including the Galápagos. Saman's work with local suppliers focuses on improving the handling and quality of the fish, from reducing its stress to creating better cold-chain infrastructure.

Keen to create a community around his work, Saman shares his suppliers with other local chefs, which not only improves Guayaquil's restaurants, but has built a better market for fishers in the area.

Üeya's interpretation of a classic Ecuadorian cangrejada, complete with a shot of beer

Using high-quality seafood means Saman can challenge and rework traditional preparation methods. In Ecuadorian cooking, Saman says, "It's an unwritten law that you have to cook shrimp." His version of an Ecuadorian ceviche features nápia, a fermented cassava preparation made by the Siekopia, an Indigenous Amazonian community. Its savoury intensity lends depth to a leche de tigre-style sauce, served with lightly cured shrimp, avocado and crunchy corn. 

A life's work

For now, Saman's priority is working with what he's got. Creating Üeya has been a labour of love, so instead of looking to expand, he plans to continue developing the cuisine and promoting Ecuadorian gastronomy, one carefully sourced ingredient and unexpected bite at a time.

"It's a huge responsibility as a cook to stay here and share what we've learned, and to encourage people to do more Ecuadorian fusion or contemporary cuisine," he says.

Winning the Visa One to Watch Award, as part of The 50 Best Restaurants Latin America 2026, he insists, is an achievement that belongs to more than Üeya. "It's not an award for us. It's an award for Guayaquil; for our city, for Ecuador," he says. "Chefs are just a medium for gastronomy. I think they're the true winners."

The full 1-50 list of The 50 Best Restaurants Latin America 2026 will be revealed live from Guadalajara on 1 December. Discover the restaurants featured on 2025's ranking.