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Waiter, There’s an APEC Fly in My Ceviche Classico!
By Barbara R. Drake, with photos by Jorge Vera Ceviche Fuerza Asiatica, from Pescados Capitales, Lima, Peru Call it haute cuisine with a political bite. That’s what some foreign dignitaries are tucking into at a top eatery in Lima this week, when the APEC Leader’s Summit concludes with a special focus on the world economic crisis. Pescados Capitales, on the city’s gastronomic corridor of Avenida La Mar, is serving up a menu of original dishes that salute and satirize “Los Pecados de la APEC” (The Sins of APEC). Overseen by head chef Wilfredo Castillo and owner Nguyen Chávez, the APEC dishes feature “summit” gatherings of classic Peruvian foods like ceviche…
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Best Cevicherias & Seafood Restaurants in Lima: Where to Dine During APEC Week
An American in Lima recommends… Seafood and rice at La Mar La Mar (Av. La Mar 770, Miraflores; 421-3365): Gaston Acurio’s chic cevicheria is sure to be on many APEC dignitaries’ “must eat at” lists. There’s always a line at this trendsetting restaurant, so expect even longer waits during APEC week. La Mar’s head chef tells An American in Lima he’s ordering 30% more fish than usual to accommodate the rush. Open 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. only.* Pescados Capitales (La Mar 1337, Miraflores; 421-8808): Top-notch, innovative ceviche served in upscale/rustic surroundings. I lurve, lurve, lurve this place, which is several blocks down the same street as Acurio’s La Mar. I…
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Cootie-free APEC Eating Zones in Lima
The final week of the APEC summit begins next Monday, and that means thousands of hungry delegates and heads of state will be seeking good places to eat in Lima. Peru’s capital city may be home to the best cusine in South America, but not all its restaurants are up to par. In fact, some eateries violate sanitation codes and use contaminated tap water (with e coli) to wash their produce. (Visitors cannot drink the tap water in Lima because it contains foul bacteria and heavy metals; many locals have adjusted to it, however.) To prevent epic outbreaks of diarrhea among delegates, APEC and Peru’s Ministry of Health have instituted…
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Conde Nast Goes Ga-Ga Over Peru’s Gaston Acurio
Chef / restauranteur Gaston Acurio is on a mission to bring Peruvian cooking to the world; photo by Karel Navarro The latest issue of Condé Nast Portfolio features a highly readable profile of Superchef Gastón Acurio, the culinary mastermind behind La Mar, Astrid y Gaston and more than a dozen eateries in South America and now the United States. Writer Andrew Curry notes: Over the last two decades, Peruvian cuisine has gone from being overlooked (even in Peru) to the hottest trend in South America, thanks in part to Acurio’s evangelism. “Peruvian cuisine is a phenomenon,” says Mayalen Elizondo, a society editor at the Mexico City daily Excelsior. “In Mexico, everyone…
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We Want to Be Your Solution for All Things Potato
Delicious purple Peruvian potatoes Potatoes are a big deal in Peru. The Peruvan Andes were the birthplace of the potato, and today Peruvian farmers cultivate more than 3,000 native varieties of them — potatoes with names like Ica Huila and Purple Viking and Wilja. The United Nations has declared 2008 “the International Year of the Potato,” and this event is being celebrated in gastronomic festivals, restaurants and stores throughout Peru. Peruvians are passionate about potatoes and spend a lot of time preparing and eating them. This is not a country where you can get away with serving inferior spuds. Peruvians know a good potato when they eat one. Now that I’ve lived here for a…
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Totally Offensive: McDonald’s Opens at Cusco Plaza de Armas
The “M” is brown, but it’s still the same Mac-chain Several posts ago, I incorrectly announced that Cafe Ayllu on Cusco’s Plaza de Armas had closed due to a pending rent increase. My source was wrong; what I found out when I visited Cusco last week is that the Ayllu is still open, for now. (It will close soon.) The real news is: fast-food chain McDonald’s has opened a franchise just three doors down from the Ayllu. The McDonald’s opened last Wednesday with little fanfare, according to John at the South American Explorers Clubhouse in Cusco. “They sort of snuck in,” he says. “There wasn’t any word about it.” The…
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Peruvian Food “Next Big Thing,” Predicts Todd English, Bon Appetit
Forget Machu Picchu. Ceviche, tiradito and gourmet roast guinea pig are the real reasons to visit Peru, tastemakers are saying this month. In an interview with Guest of a Guest, restauranteur Todd English let it slip that he predicts Peruvian Food Is the Next Big Thing, and foodies are rushing to weigh in on his opinion. The new “Bon Appetit” blog agrees with English, reports Grub Street, with chef Gaston Acurio seen as a leading light in the Peruvian culinary movement. The Grinder notes that some traditional Peruvian fare (lomo saltado, roasted cuy) may be too ordinary to rate as a trend, as some blog commenters have pointed out, but innovative chefs like Acurio may have…
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Olympic Ceviche with a Political Bite – Pescados Capitales
The ultra-hip cevicheria Pescados Capitales, one of Lima's finest seafood restaurants, plays on the Beijing Summer Olympics theme in its current "Pescados Olímpicos" (Olympic Sins) menu.
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Supermarket Cowboys
Peru’s biggest supermarket chain – Wong – plays up Fiestas Patrias in a big way, sponsoring patriotic events throughout Lima and featuring the “flavors of Peru” during the month-long season. The store’s colors are red and white, the colors of the Peruvian flag, but to celebrate the independence-day spirit during July, some employees wear outfits distinctive to Peru. The young men who bag your groceries wear these white ponchos with red scarves and big straw hats – the traditional costume of “el chalán,” the horse trainer or cowboy from northern Peru. (See photo of actual chalan, not in red and white, riding a horse in Lima, by Paul Ark, right).
