As one might expect, the extensive menu at La Mar (“the sea” in Spanish)is heavily seafood-centric, and pays tribute to the bounty of the Peru’s nearby Pacific coast: conch, tuna, shrimp, octopus, kingfish, and other seafood. It’s broken down into categories of preparation: first come the ceviches and tiraditos (thin-sliced ceviches without onion), followed by causas (marinated seafood served on pureed sweet yellow potato),  anticuchos (grilled seafood skewers) and sudados (rustic seafood stews).  In a nod to Lima’s abundant and beloved chifas (Chinese restaurants), the menu includes a selection of seafood saltados (stir-fries). “The Chinese introduced this technique in our cuisine. We give it our own flavor,” the menu explains.

    Gradually, the menu of Astrid y Gaston began to reflect a more national focus. Tropical fruits like the granadilla and the maracuya, Peruvian herbs like huacatay, and native heirloom potatoes like the huayro and the huamantanga began to appear on the menu. Before long, Acurio had created a new Peruvian-fusion cuisine, and the response was overwhelmingly positive; today, there are Astrid y Gaston restaurants in four South American cities, with branches soon to open in Venezuela  and Mexico. La Mar, Acurio’s refined take on traditional Peruvian seafood joints, has only been open for a year, but its smashing success is already assured. American restaurant-goers may soon be able to fight for a lunch table at La Mar without crossing the equator; Acurio hopes to open a restaurant in the United States. Leche de tigre, anyone?

It’s impossible to beat the lunch rush at La Mar, Peru’s hottest new cevicheria.  By noon, all the tables at the slick, sunny, open-air dining room incongruously tucked into a gritty seaside neighborhood just outside of Lima are taken by the unhurried businessmen and glamorous, suntanned women of Lima’s leisure class. But if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em: shoulder your way to the bar, where a pisco sour, a handful of roasted corn and breezes from the nearby Pacific Ocean await. If you ask politely, the bartender may further whet your appetite with a shot of leche de tigre (tiger’s milk), the powerful concentration of seafood stock, citrus juice and pepper that gives Peruvian  ceviche its distinct punch.

    La Mar is the most recent brainchild of the chef who has assumed the responsibility of introducing the rich and varied cuisine of Peru to the world: Gastón Acurio. Schooled at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Acurio opened his first restaurant, Astrid y Gaston with his wife, pastry chef Astrid Gutsche, in 1994. The restaurant’s first menu was based firmly in the classic French tradition, complete with a “menu full of words only the ambassador would have understood,” says Acurio. Frustrated by the sporadic availability  of the ingredients French cuisine demands, Acurio started to think locally. “We came across Peru accidentally,  like someone who lifts the lid of a pot hidden in a back room—and in it we discovered the treasures of our regional cuisine,”says Acurio.  “We found that for every French ingredient we lacked, we had four Peruvian ingredients that could surpass it.”

Lunching at

La Mar

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