New Culinary Corridor in Lima: Avenida Primavera On The Border Between San Borja and Surco

Avenida Primavera forms the boundary between two middle-class Lima districts, San Borja and Santiago de Surco. Avenida Primavera is the continuation of Avenida Angamos Este, changing names when it crosses Caminos del Inca.

The First Five Blocks of Avenida Primavera.
This map shows where Avenida Angamos Este changes
name to become Avenida Primavera.
Maps from Guí­a de Calles Lima y Perú 2006.

The ten blocks between Caminos del Inca and the Panamericana Sur have become a new culinary hotspot in Lima, with numerous dining options all of very good quality.

Blocks Six to Ten of Avenida Primavera.
This map shows Avenida Primavera as it
approaches the Panamericana Sur.
Maps from Guía de Calles Lima y Perú 2006.

The following is an unofficial, informal translation of an article that appeared in El Comercio in January, 2006.


The Pleasure of the Palate
From El Comercio, 01/23/06.
Original article: El Comercio.

There's a new foodie corridor in Lima.

The area between San Borja and Santigo de Surco has become an unexpected garden of culinary delights for all tastes and budgets, home to some of Lima's best restaurants, pizzerias, bodegas, and cafes.

A tasting tour along Avenida Primavera is well-rewarded.

There is a restaurant to satisfy any craving or desire, whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even the intense pleasure of an afternoon lonche (Peruvian tea time).

Pastelerí­a San Antonio.
Photo: Oscar Roca in El Comercio.

Located along Avenida Primavera are some classic Lima restaurants, such as José Antonio, home of the best lomo saltado in the city. The pastry shop Pastelerí­a San Antonio was one of the first establishments to arrive to this area now rich with culinary alternatives.

Tanta offers Gastón Acurio's delicacies at very reasonable prices. For pastas and desserts, Bodega de la Trattoria is simply spectacular. In the 600 block, we find the perfect cafe, Delicass, with its superb pastries and some of the best coffee in Lima.

The incomparable desserts at Bodega de la Trattoria.
Photo: Germán Falcón in El Comercio.

For carnivores, the place to go is El Asador, where owners take rightful pride in their authentic Argentine asado. Or, close to the Caminos del Inca shopping center, the magnificient pizzeria Antica.

Finally, there are the pioneers, those first establishments to open in the area, such as the cafes Bocatta and Cherry, and the pastry-shop L'Hermitage (with their notable chicken fricassé empanadas and Gran Marnier truffels.)

Your table is waiting on Avenida Primavera.


Here is a list of some of the dining options along Avenida Primavera.

Antica Pizzeria
Avenida Primavera 275
Phone: 372-2698, 372-2792
Open daily 12 noon to 12 midnight.
Median price: Pizza from 22 to 39 soles.

Notes: Its pizzas (all large thin-crust) are superb. The best ones include the four cheese pizza (gongorzola, emmental, parmesan, mozarella), and the funghi and prosciutto pizza. You can also try fetuccini a la funghi i porcini, or the lomo a la pizzaiola (steak served with a pomodoro and mozarella sauce).

Bocatta
Primavera 311
Phone: 372-1426, 372-7445
Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 midnight. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m. to midnight.
Median price: 28 soles.

Note: They begin the day with special breakfast offers (all include juice and a hot beverage): choose from continental, American, Executive, French, or the Bocatta breakfast (with pancakes or French toast). Tea time begins at 4 p.m. and there are specials starting at S/.13,50 per person (a sandwich, a beverage and dessert). There is a lunch menu.

Pastelerí­a San Antonio
Primavera 373
Phone: 372-7677, 372-7645
Open daily, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Median price: 20 soles (full meal)
Note: This is a traditional eatery. All of the branches offer deli-style meats and cheeses, salads, sandwiches, fresh fruit juices, and ice cream. They also have coffee, pastries, and other desserts.

José Antonio
La Floresta 124, at the 500 block of Avenida Primavera
Phone: 372-6868, 372-7288
Open daily, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. , and again from 7:30 to 12 midnight.
Sunday, lunch only.
Median price: 36 soles.

Note: This is a classic in the Lima restaurant scene specializing in Peruvian and International cuisine. The sampler plate, el piqueo José Antonio, and the lomo saltado José Antonio are stellar. They offer an excellent lunch buffet.

Delicass
Primavera 654
Phone: 372-5203
Open daily, 8 a.m. to 12 midnight.
Median price: 7 soles

Note: The hot and cold sandwich menu is extensive. Pastas are quite good. They also offer deliwraps (rolled sandwiches made with pita-style bread), quiches, pastries, empanadas, salads, juices, ice cream and a wide dessert list.

El Asador
Primavera 679
Phone: 372-2590
Open daily, 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and again, 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Sunday closes at 5 p.m.
Median price: 45 soles.

Note: Specialties include meats like goat, roast suckling pig, beef, and potato soufflé Buenos Aires style. The double parilla includes chops, morcilla, chorizo, kidneys, chinchulines and gizzards, with two sides, for 66 soles.

T'anta
Primavera 692
Phone 372-3528
Open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 12 midnight. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 midnight. Sunday closes at 10 p.m.
Median price: 30 soles.

Note: Among the best options, the sandwich criollo (fine beef, onion, peppers and Dambo cheese), the tortilla madrileña, the stew with mushrooms, bacon and onion, green old-fashioned fetuccini, and for dessert, the banana manjar, maracuyá tart, and the chocolúcuma, their famous chocolate and lúcuma confection.

La Bodega de la Trattoria
Primavera 712
Phone: 372-7572
Open daily from12 noon to 1 a.m.
Median price: 30 soles.

Note: Begin with piadinas (home-baked bread with olive oil), follow with the portobello salad (arugula, asparagus, and mushroom, baked au gratin), then the Trattoria tortellini (with ragú a la bolognesa, rich with cream and mushrooms) or the tagliata di manzo (juicy steak strips with a Caesar salad and french-fried yellow potato. For dessert, try the bocanera de chocolota, a chocolate cake with a hot liquid filling, served with vanilla ice cream, almonds and other toppings.



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

Washington Post: Will Peruvian Become the Next Thai?

Walter Nicholls, writing in the 05/10/06 edition of the Washington Post, muses if Peru's cusine could become the next Thai.

He understands the fusion element in Peruvian cooking. "Take one part Incan and one part Spanish. Mix well. Add influences of African, Chinese, Japanese and Italian. What do you get?" he asks.

Of course, we know the answer.

He writes: "The staples of Peruvian cuisine -- potatoes, yucca, corn and chili peppers -- were provided by the Incas centuries ago. Spanish conquistadors who arrived in the 16th century brought citrus fruit, wheat, rice, cattle and pigs as well as European-style desserts. Africans introduced spicy, vinegar-marinated beef and fish on skewers.

Then came the Chinese, who came to build railroads. They introduced soy sauce and fresh ginger as well as stir-fry cooking. Japanese arriving in the early 1900s to work on sugar and cotton plantations brought their love of seafood and techniques for preparing it simply and beautifully."

Although he means Andeans instead of Incas (the Inca Empire only lasted about 150 years, but many pre-Inca cultures had existed in the Andes for millenia), he gets it.

Nicholls reminds us that "legendary French chef and culinary writer Auguste Escoffier" listed Peruvian cuisine as one of the best in the world. Despite this fame, Nicholls laments, "Considering its status, (Peruvian cusine) ... been relatively overlooked."

In this article, Nicholls interviews Alejandro Riveros, head of public diplomacy for the Embassy of Peru in Washington D.C. During their conversation, Riveros acknowledges he, "has made it his mission to promote the sophistication, innovation and most importantly, taste, of foods from back home."

Most recently among Riveros' triumphs was a thousand-person food sampling at the Peruvian Embassy in celebration of the signing of the free trade agreement between Peru and the United States.

Nicholls quotes Riveros: "We want our food to be as well known as Thai is in this country. We want 5,000 -- no 10,000 -- restaurants in the United States. We want Peruvian restaurants everywhere."

Riveros is spearheading a marriage between investors and chefs, the two linchpins to promoting Peruvian cuisine, with an eye to opening a high-end Peruvian restaurant in downtown Washington D.C

For Washingtonians, Peruvian cuisine means the ubiquitous pollo a la brasa rotisserie chicken, such as El Pollo Rico, opened in 1989 in Arlington, and now so popular, long lines form during the lunch and dinner rushes. Other Washington-area favorites include Crisp & Juicy, Señor Chicken and The Inkas' Empire.

The fare presented by the Peruvian Embassy is quite different from what is served in these family-style restaurants.

At a recent dinner party for 70 at the ambassadorial residence, there were a dozen main courses competing at the buffet table. Excutive chef Jose Luís Herrerra prepared, "a creamy, purple, Italian-style olive sauce over thinly sliced octopus;" "Andean corn for a Japanese-inspired, citrus-marinated fish dish, ceviche"; and, "a Chinese stir-fry of beef tenderloin and red onions seasoned with soy sauce and tossed with french fries". Causa, the famouse "layered torte made with cool mashed potato, filled with tuna salad, (and) festively coated with a colored mayonnaise sauce" also made an appearance. As did, "a Spanish, port wine-flavored custard topped with meringue and a touch of cinnamon" for dessert.

Chef Jose Luís Herrera preparing ceviche.
Phote: Mark Finkenstaedt in the The Washington Post.

The Peruvian Embassy barman, Marcelino Lázaro (who has been shaking pisco sours at Embassy receptions and cocktail parties for the last 20 years) explained that the perfect pisco sour, depends on "the proportions." Nicholls concludes that the pisco sour, "like much of Peruvian cooking, packs a punch."

To read the complete article from the Washington Post, click here. (Registration may be required.)





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Click here for the Peru Food main page.

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

Five Pictures of Peruvian Food

Prom Perú, the Peruvian Comission for the Promotion of Peru, has become keenly aware of the increasing role of Peruvian cuisine as a brand to be marketed, both home and abroad.

Along with the launch of the book Perú Mucho Gusto, Prom Perú has also developed a website discussing Peruvian cuisine in detail. From time to time, I will post portions of that website on this blog.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of some of the most well-known Peruvian dishes.

Enjoy!


What better way to start your meal than with a classic Peruvian ceviche?



If you are seeking something more exotic, perhaps the Amazonian dish juanes may tempt you. Reminiscent of a tamal, it is made with rice stuffed with chicken and hard-boiled egg cooked in a banana leaf.



Almost any Peruvian restaurant in the world offers their variation of the coastal Peruvian and Asian fusion dish, lomo saltado.




There is no more refreshing cocktail to accompany your meal than the classic pisco sour.



For dessert, the sweet suspiro limeño is perfect ending to a delicious Peruvian meal.



All pictures from Perú Mucho Gusto.

To read a previous post about Perú Mucho Gusto, click here.




Peru.Food@gmail.com
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Click here for the Peru Food main page.

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