In 2014, Central jumped 35 places to number 15, winning the "Highest Climber" award,[2] and later that year was named Best Restaurant in Latin America.

During his formative years he worked at well-known restaurants such as Lutèce (New York City); Can Fabes (Sant Celoni); and served as executive chef at Astrid & Gastón in both Bogotá and Madrid.

[citation needed] Martínez is known for his use of unique ingredients such as a potato grown at 5,000 meters above sea level;[4] kushuru (cushuro), an edible cyanobacteria harvested in high-altitude wetlands; and wild varieties of kiwicha and quinoa.

[5] In 2013, Martínez helped form Mater Iniciativa, an interdisciplinary group of professionals who travel throughout Peru in search of unique ingredients which Martinez in turn incorporates into his cooking.

On May 9, 2019, different news sources reported that Martinez had been stopped at Los Angeles' airport for trying to enter the US with 40 piranhas in vacuum-sealed plastic bags inside his personal luggage.