The cook
Chef
Chef
Miguel Torres
From Lima to Hawaii. A life dedicated to honoring Peruvian cuisine with the freshest ingredients from the Pacific.
See the menu
From Lima to Hawaii. A life dedicated to honoring Peruvian cuisine with the freshest ingredients from the Pacific.
See the menu
Chef Miguel Torres was born in Lima, Peru, where he learned the secrets of criolla cooking from a young age: the ceviche from neighborhood cevicherías, the anticuchos from street carts, the lomo saltado invented by Chinese immigrants.
Along with Fanny, he lived for several years in Argentina — where their two children were born — while leading kitchens at well-known Peruvian-nikkei restaurants across South America, including Osaka Nikkei, Fabric Sushi Bar and Tigre Morado in Buenos Aires, and also at a Japanese restaurant, which is where his ease with sushi and nikkei dishes comes from.
He arrived in Hawaii alone in 2020, to help a friend open a restaurant. The COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to that plan, but Miguel found another job and didn't give up. It wasn't until 2022 that he was able to bring Fanny and their two children to the island.
The quality of Oahu's local fish — mahi, papio, maguro, hamachi — allowed him to elevate dishes like ceviche and tiradito to a level rarely found outside of Lima.
Together with his family, he turned a food trailer parked behind a Waialua restaurant into the Backyard Oasis: a Peruvian corner in the Pacific, renovated by their own hands, where hand-painted tables and fresh flowers matter just as much as the dishes coming out of the kitchen. If something's not on the menu, Miguel will still cook it if he has the ingredients — from a fish stew to a plate of sushi.
Contact for cateringBorn in Lima, raised among neighborhood cevicherías and corner anticucho carts. Criolla cooking as a native language.
Miguel and Fanny live for several years in Argentina, where their two children are born. Miguel leads kitchens at Peruvian-nikkei restaurants across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay — over a decade of experience before arriving in Hawaii.
Miguel travels alone to Oahu to help a friend open a restaurant. The COVID-19 pandemic stalls that plan, but he finds another job and stays.
Fanny and their two children move to Hawaii. They start together at Oahu's Farmers Markets, and later with a food trailer behind a restaurant in Waialua.
From food trailer to restaurant of their own. The Backyard Oasis on Goodale Ave, Waialua — renovated by the family, with hand-painted tables and fresh flowers.
Mari Taketa writes in Honolulu Magazine about the "wonderland quality" of Peruvian Corner. Shortly after, a Japanese travel magazine also interviews them. Recognition arrives, but the passion stays the same.
Over a decade leading Peruvian-nikkei kitchens in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay before crossing the Pacific.
Before fully committing to gastronomy, Miguel served in the Peruvian Navy. Here are some of his culinary training certificates and honors.
UTHGRA (Union of Tourism, Hotel and Gastronomy Workers) · Buenos Aires, December 2008
Peruvian Navy, 1995
4th Naval Contingent, San Lorenzo Naval School
Behind every dish there's a story, and behind Peruvian Corner there's a family. Fanny Torres is the other half of this business: she's in charge of desserts — the lilikoi cheesecake and the tres leches so praised by our customers come from her hands — and of all the details that make every visit to the Backyard Oasis feel like visiting someone you trust.
The hand-painted tables, the fresh flowers on the white picnic tables under the red umbrellas — those details are Fanny. She and Miguel renovated the space with their own hands, and today even their children help wait tables. The "wonderland" atmosphere that Honolulu Magazine describes is the result of an entire family working with the same love. For customers who come back every week, they're no longer "a restaurant" — they're "Aunty Fanny and Uncle Miguel."
Chef Miguel is available for catering at private events, festivals, birthdays and celebrations. Beef heart anticuchos cooked live, arroz con pollo trays, ají de gallina for the crowd.
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