Mario Navarrete Jr was born in Lima, Peru, to Peruvian parents and Genoese Italian ancestry on his mother’s side. This meant that from an early age he could be linked to the varieties of cuisines found in Peru due to that same mix of cultures that they do in the currently a culinary destination to travel. In 1992 he traveled to Utah to study English as a second language, it was in that country where he worked in a kitchen for the first time. The following year he transferred school to the state of Virginia. Parallel to his studies, he worked in Ashland Virginia at the distinguished Iron Horse restaurant. It is there where the young Navarrete, inspired by his Chef, decided to change careers and dedicate himself completely to gastronomy. In November 1994, Navarrete arrived in Montreal with his family. It is in this city where he studied Culinary Arts and professional Pastry, graduating from Pearson Culinary institute in 1997 and from the Cuisine Actualisee Course at St Pius Culinary Institute in 1998. Before running his own restaurants, Navarrete rose through the ranks at different high-end kitchens. He cooked under Nuevo Latino superstar Douglas Rodriguez at Alma de Cuba, also with Argentinian chef and Ceviche Specialist Guillermo Pernot, of Pasion, both in Philadelphia. He continued his training in New York City with Michelin starred Chef Daniel Boulud, at Daniel and Cafe Boulud, and also at Montreal’s famous Les Caprices de Nicolas. Subsequently, he worked in emblematic Montreal restaurants such as Café Ferreira, Tentation, Bice and Hotel Germain. It was during this time that Navarrete began to think about his roots and Latin cuisine. He researched Nuevo Latino and armed with his French and Latin culinary education, he opened his first restaurant, Raza, an upscale modern Latin Peruvian restaurant on Avenue Laurier. In 2005, Air Canada’s enRoute magazine named Raza the fourth best restaurant in Canada, and the highest score in Montreal 28 out of 30 in the Zagat guide, appearing in Gourmet, the magazine of good living on March 2006 in the Montreal Quebec issue. The praise flowed continuously and Navarrete opened Madre sur Masson 2007 where again, in 2008, enRoute placed it among the best restaurants in the country. That year, when Food and Wine magazine wrote about Montreal as one the best culinary cities in the world, Madre was on the list of best restaurants in the city. In addition, Vacay mentioned Madre among the best restaurants in the country in 2010. Expanding the concept of Madre, Madre sur Fleury opened in 2013 in the Ahuntsic neighborhood. Since its opening, Madre sur Fleury has participated yearly in the MTL à Table event, which brings together the best 100 tables in the city.