Thirty-eight-year-old Rodolfo Guzmán (pictured above), head chef at Chilean restaurant Borago, hunts the South American country’s beaches for the ingredients that have made his restaurant popular: seaweed, sea figs, beach chard, sea parsley, rock clovers, sea asparagus, and hundreds of others. The restaurant opened in 2006 in the suburbs of Santiago, Chile’s capital city, and its menu centers on halophiles—or plants that grow in salty environments and need little or no soil. Collaborating closely with biologists, anthropologists, and mycologists (mushroom specialists), Guzmán has set out to research and promote Chile’s endemic plant life while using it to create a brand-new cuisine. Chile has more than 2,900 miles of coastline, and ecosystems ranging from the world’s most arid desert to the glacial climes of Patagonia—giving it a wealth of biodiversity. That includes 750 species of seaweed or algae and 30 different edible mushrooms, many of which can be found in Guzmán’s kitchen. Book a reservation at Borago here. Below, watch a video about Guzmán’s food foraging obsession. —Relaxnews
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