With its exotic ingredients and colorful mix of influences — Inca, Spanish and Japanese to name but three — Peruvian cuisine has become a global phenomenon. Gastón Acurio opened the first Astrid y Gastón in 1994, and in the intervening years it has become a restaurant franchise throughout South America and Europe. And Virgilio Martínez Véliz, the owner and chef of Central, now has two restaurants in London, one of which was awarded a Michelin star in 2014, plus a third outpost, in Dubai.

Astrid y Gastón

Acurio has returned to the kitchen in Lima, where his famous flagship restaurant is now housed within a splendid 17th-century hacienda. He currently offers two tasting menus, both of which pay homage to Lima and its gastronomic and cultural mosaic. Expect dishes such as Paracas scallops with lucuma (subtropical Andean fruit) gnocchi, “Amazonic” sauce and chestnuts; and suckling pig confit with carapulcra (pork and potato stew), cacao and peanuts. Reservations should be made well in advance.

Astrid y Gastón
Avenida Paz Soldán 290, San Isidro. Tel. (51) 1-442-2777