Lime, Peru - What it’s like dining in Central, the best restaurant in the world
I waited on an empty street in front of where Google told me the restaurant was, although there was no signage or indication that I was in the right place until other guests arrived, more than 10 minutes after me. First through the door upon opening, the host greeted me and asked if I had a reservation. “No,” I replied. “But I’m hoping to join you for lunch. It’s just me.” She asked me to wait and within 5 minutes I was sitting in a private dining room and asked for my water preference (sparkling, of course). I chose the full tasting menu with the non-alcoholic beverage pairing. second
It feels exciting to be here, the atmosphere is calm, earthy, with exceptional attention to detail. The music is ambient, like an aquarium, barely there yet also uplifting. The style is defined. Upscale without pretense, deeply Peruvian translated into a global aesthetic for the international diner, relevant, purpose.
Course one, black rocks; sea-level, foam lended a creamy texture, citrus and garlic made the dish. Drinking sour cucumber basically an elevated pickle juice.
Course two, dry valley; prawns, sweet, floral, a love of life and a happy place to live. The loche squash on top, the crumble of the squash exterior like dust, dry but just under that, cream so sweet and supple like love and under that a reduction made of the prawns, then the prawns cook in their own jus, the little prawns, together with pieces of avocado. Emotional to eat so labored over, so rich with love. Each bite a delight. Drinking maracuja with avocado, the creaminess dulled the sour, refreshing flavor and thick texture create a smooth drink.
Three, sweet corn biscuit with cream for dipping, soft, comforting.
Four, a cacao drink sweetened with tree sap, smells like cacao and forest, like mud and decomposing, like leaves and big branches as they become mulch on the forest floor but it tastes light and perfume like. The food representing this extreme altitude is cacao and sweet potato, quinoa, and sweet potato leaf, it’s chewy and crunchy and served with a wooden spoon in an armadillo shaped ceramic.
A metal spoon is placed on paper, the paper has a tree printed onto it. I observe how the texture of the cutlery inform the dish. Course five, warm sea current, served with a bright yellow etherial drink made of some tree. The dish comes in a pot that is covered and then revealed. The razor clams are colored a vibrant blue made by imbuing them with spirulina.
Six, Amazon. Smoke hits the nose and defines the affronting foam in the mouth. This course is pungent, not worried about being delicate. The broth at the bottom is thick and rich, made from fish that is dried for 16 days before becoming the broth. Accompanied by apple juice, cold and crisp, just like home but more crisp and defined.
What’s happening is not an eduction, it’s a presentation and display of art through food. People don’t want to be taught, they want to be shown, they want to experience.
Seven, blue green ocean. Foam. Foam is a theme. It’s soft and crispy and by this course, half way through, the Chef’s style is defined and while each dish is different, the themes come through in all of them.
Eight, sea brain algae. Smells like algae, tastes like samphire. There’s more foam and a crisp leaf. The spoon is textured and the octopus is tender, the most tender octopus I’ve tasted.
Nine, Mil Centro. Just a potato served with a sauce. I did not like the taste of it but I liked the fact that I did not like it.
Ten, waters of the Amazon. Jelly with watermelon, foam, and fish underneath served with a quince beverage that smells like nectar from the gods.
Eleven, Andean forest. Holy cow, it tastes nothing like it smells because it smells like potato and starch but it tastes sweet, rich, fatty, crunchy. Eaten with the quince pairing, the flavors make love in the mouth, a perfect combination. The fermented carrot pink foam brings the dish together in a way that develop’s the foam theme to a climax. The pork is delicate and melts in the mouth without loosing a pack of flavor or texture. The dish is entirely unexpected and blew my mind, the grand finale of the main courses.
We are moving to dessert and I am sad the savory is over.
Twelve, sacred valley. Tastes melancholy from the jelly that’s topped with an icy mint creating a creamy, crunchy bite. I don’t have to know what I’m eating to know it makes me long. It is a sense of saudade. Saudade is a Brazilian word meaning the feeling of longing, melancholy, desire, and nostalgia. It describes a deep emotional state; a yearning for a happiness that has passed, or perhaps never even existed. This is what this tasted like. The spoon is cold in temperature and from minty freshness. The crumbly texture I think is chocolate but find out is actually cauliflower! It’s paired with Andean verbena and custard apple. It’s emotional.
Thirteen, final course, cacao. It’s own tasting menu with each part of the cacao prepared separately so you can eat each bite on its own or together in some way. My stomach has nearly exploded.
