i. Biography
Executive Chef of Baku Asian Fusion Bar, Guillermo Gassan’s path runs from Venezuela, where he was born, to Miami, United States, where he founded Iko Miami in 2024. Along that route, his work has tied Japanese fusion cuisine to neurogastronomy, using the language of the senses as part of the dining experience rather than a flourish added at the end.
Early Years
Venezuela is the first point in Gassan’s story: he was born there before his career moved into restaurant leadership. The biographical line is spare, but the later work is specific, and it shows a cook drawn toward Asian cuisine, Japanese culinary traditions, and the study of how people perceive flavor. That last subject became central to the Miami project he helped bring into being. Neurogastronomy, the interdisciplinary field that draws on neuroscience and psychology to understand how the brain perceives food and flavor, shaped the dining experience at the restaurant from its founding year.
Making a Name
In 2024, Gassan founded Iko Miami, United States. The origin of the restaurant came from the founders’ love for Asian cuisine, Japanese culinary traditions, and neurogastronomy, a combination that gave the concept both a culinary direction and a sensory framework. Its specialty was Japanese fusion cuisine, built around a blend of Japanese culinary tradition and innovative flair. Rather than treating that fusion as an abstract idea, the restaurant put it into concrete dishes and rituals: a tableside wagyu bar where diners cook premium cuts on hot stone, the A5 Wagyu Bar, and tuna tartare. Those signatures carry the restaurant’s point of view without needing excess explanation. The hot stone service makes the diner part of the final act of cooking, while the tuna tartare sits within the same Japanese-fusion vocabulary that defined the Miami venture.
The Present
Gassan identifies his primary role directly: "My name is Guillermo Gassán and I am the Executive Chef of Baku Asian Fusion Bar." That title places him in the kitchen’s lead position, while his 2024 founding of the Miami restaurant marks a separate chapter in building a dining concept around Japanese fusion and neurogastronomy. The work appears to remain close to the stove even away from formal service. In his own words, "My “rest” still happens in the kitchen." It is a concise line, but it fits the arc: from Venezuela to restaurant leadership, from Asian culinary inspiration to a dining experience shaped by how the brain understands food and flavor.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Guillermo
What roles has Guillermo Gassan held?
He is Executive Chef of Baku Asian Fusion Bar and founded Iko Miami, United States, in 2024.
What is Guillermo Gassan doing now?
He identifies himself as the Executive Chef of Baku Asian Fusion Bar.
