Friday, September 19, 2008

Peruvian Food Pictures: The Sky Room At Hotel Crillón

For decades, the Hotel Crillón, on Lima's once-stately Avenida Nicolas de Piérola, popularly known as La Colmena or The Beehive, was the grande-dame of Lima's hotels.

The Hotel Crillón has been closed for many years now, in part due to family squabbles, as well as the evolving face and demographics of Lima's historical center.

But during its apogée, there was no more a chic address than Lima's Hotel Crillón.

And there was no better kitchen than that of the Crillón's rooftop Sky Room, where a Peruvian food extravaganza, accompanied by the finest Peruvian music, were the delight of locals and visitors alike.

Perhaps, one day in the near future, the Crillón will open its doors again, and the Sky Room will once again be one of Lima's prime destinations.

Until then, we have these pictures to remember the Sky Room's, and
La Colmena's, heyday.











Click here for the Peru Food main page.

TAGS: Peru, Peruvian, food, cooking, cuisine, cocina, comida, gastronomía, peruana

11 comments:

Fiorella Valera said...

Hola el blog esta increible, me preguntaba si estaban interesados en hacer intercambio de enlaces, ojala y se animen, muchos saludos.

Anonymous said...

Nice post. After a chat with my suegro a few days ago I was going to do a Hotel Crillón post... thanks for doing all the work!

Canelita said...

I'm always wowed at the sight of these images, thinking that nightlife in Lima's Historical Centre was once so lively and vibrant--look at all those neon signs!. It seems that slowly but surely, things are turning around for this whole area. Hopefully the Hotel Crillón will make a big comeback as well; such a beautiful and emblematic building certainly deserves to be rescued from its current obscurity and neglect.

::Alejandro:: said...

Fiorella: Gracias por la visita y el comentario.

Stuart: You can still do a post about the Crillón, it would be interesting to read what you might find out about the family problems that led to the Crillón's closure and the recurring plans to reopen it.

Canelita: That was a Lima we never knew, did we? More our parents' generation who got to see the center of Lima like that. I wonder what La Colmena will look like ten years from now.

Anonymous said...

Muchos recuerdos del Sky Room donde se presentaban los cantantes y shows de moda.
Nunca me voy a olvidar una vez que fuimos en familia y mi primo se pidió pechuga de codornis a la no se cuantos y los demás platos mucho mas normales. Cuando comienzan a llegar los platos de todos, venían bien relativamente a pesar que estaba de moda la Nouvelle cuisine, pero cuando llegó el de mi primo nadie pudo aguantar la carcajada..era un plato enooorme como se usaba y en el medio la pechuguita de codornís sobre una camita de puré de papas..fué increíble para nosotros pero mi primo creo que quedó con hambre.
Saludos,
Katia

Pico said...

Hola Alejandro,

Hablando de la Lima que nunca conocimos, siempre me pregunto sobre esa ciudad a la que cantaros sus odas bohemios como Chabuca Granda y Los Troveros Criollos.

Cuando paso de ser evocada como la ciudad de los Reyes a ser llamada Lima la horrible por Sebastián Salazar Bondy.

Donde se han marchado esas Limenas que inspiraron todos esos valses (no he visto otro genero de musica donde tantos titulos sean nombres de mujeres)? Sabes, creo que me entro una idea para una cancion...

Saludos

Renzo said...

Hace una semana estuve por Lima en busca de un point para incluir en mi blog. Cuando pasé por el Crillon y vi tan abandonado el edificio no pude evitar sentir algo de pena.

De acuerdo a lo que me comentaron mis padres en su momento fue el hotel top de esta ciudad.

Como siempre mis felicitaciones por mantener un blog tan variado y con actualizaciones frecuentes.

Charles C Stirk Jr said...

Thanks for the post .. I must admit I all ways wondered what the Hotel Crillón & the Sky Room would have been like in another era ....

This brings back great memories in 94 I had a flight delay on Lacsa & large chunk of the flight were put up at the Hotel Crillón .... After a year of budget travel Hotel Crillón was a decadent pleasure ..

I remember the room had a medium band & short-wave radio but no tv .... Sky Room was still listed as open from 12-24 in the 1994 South American Handbook but when I wandered up it seemed as if it had been closed for a while .. I had a very pleasant meal at the dining room off the lobby ...

Spent early evening & sunset reading a book in the Sky Room watching night fall over Lima ...

I remember seeing other Crillón Hotels & tours if I remember correctly

Anonymous said...

Great blog!

retro sweets said...

These are very nice photos! I've never been to Peru but was always interested in their cuisine. But so far my fave is Tacu tacu..

Success said...

The beautiful photos remind us of our last trip! It is a shame how few people in American have had the opportunity to taste Peruvian cuisine.