One of the best ways to deep-dive into the acclaimed food scene in Lima, Peru is through the city’s chef-driven tasting menus. Here’s how to find the tasting menu that’s right for you.
As always, check for travel guidelines and closures before planning your trip.
The Classic Tasting Menu: Astrid y Gastón
Chef Gastón Acurio’s fame began in 1994, when he and his wife, pastry chef Astrid Gutsche, opened Astrid y Gastón in a renovated mansion that dates back to the 1700s. Chef Acurio went on to become Peru’s first true celebrity chef and now presides over an international empire of restaurants.
Astrid y Gastón, a Relais & Chateaux restaurant, remains a Lima classic. The tasting menu is ambitious and meticulous, featuring dishes that might include sea urchin salad and confit suckling pig. The mansion setting is classy. Be sure to save room for dessert, which is a spectacular spread of morsels from Gutsche.
The Conceptual Tasting Menu: Central
The most famous tasting menu in Peru is served by chefs Virgilio Martínez and Pia León at Central.
Multiple tasting menus are available, including a vegetarian option, and each is arranged by altitude, with dishes featuring ingredients found at each altitude (dried potatoes from 12,700 feet or river snails from 600 feet, for example). Dishes provoke pleasure and contemplation and each plate is also a work of art.
The Tasting Menu for Seafood Lovers: Maido
Maido is helmed by chef Mitsuharu Tsumura, who is famous for his blend of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine, which is called Nikkei. The seafood-focused place has a sushi bar and an a la carte menu, but the tasting menu is the way to go if you want to see how this chef and his team handle a range of ingredients.
The raw fish courses (toro nigiri topped with a quail egg, for example) are outstanding.
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