Carving up Lima's 16th-century streets on a board or carving up a medium-rare piece of meat?
In the end, injury made the decision for Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez and the skateboarding world's loss was the culinary world's most fortuitous gain.
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With a restaurant ranked fourth in the world and a Michelin star to his name, Virgilio flexed his gastronomical muscles again last month when his Lima-based Central topped the S.Pellegrino Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list for the second year running.
"I was a semi-pro skater but I fractured my clavicle while skating at a park in California," recalls 38-year-old Martinez.
Once it was fixed back in Peru, I went skating again but broke my other shoulder!
"That's when I stopped skating. I loved it but once I started cooking, I left all that behind and became totally involved in the kitchen. I'd toyed with being an architect too but I wanted to travel -- cooking lets me do that."
He certainly clocks up the air miles.
This past month, Martinez -- who admits to thinking about food from the moment he wakes up, starting with which coffee to brew -- was in Tokyo cooking at RyuGin restaurant, in Mexico City for Latin America's 50 Best awards and foraging and filming in Acomayo near Cuzco for CNN.
"I went to the Andean community I usually visit near Cuzco that produces papas raices potatoes, wild herbs, and other tubers," he says.
"We slept at homes belonging to belonging to Acomayo residents, and they really looked after us: we cooked together and went foraging."
While Martinez, whose Michelin star is attached to UK eatery Lima London, says it would be easy to use products from other countries, Central's very existence is based on the diversity of Peru's extensive larder, which spans the Pacific ocean, the Amazon and the Andes.
In fact Mater Iniciativa, the cultural and biological diversity research project he set up with sister Malena, is the backbone of Central restaurant's Mater Elevations tasting menu -- a 17-course dinner that shows off Peru's diverse altitudes.
Traversing his homeland to source underused ingredients or find a new piece of farming land is key.
"I like combing our geography -- we work with lots of ecosystems so it's important to move around and not just be in the kitchen," says Martinez.
"I don't believe a supplier should come to me, but that I should build a relationship with him, his land and products. See video link below for Virgilios stunning indigenous cuisine
