Archive for the 'Peruvian' Category

Anticucheria Peruana – Los Angeles (Norwalk)

Published by Gastronomer on December 21, 2012 in Norwalk, Peruvian and Restaurant Review. 2 Comments

Anticucheria Peruana, also known as Anticucheria Danessi, may very well be California’s first restaurant dedicated to anticuchos, grilled Peruvian skewers. In addition to the signature offal offerings, Mario Danessi’s brightly lit and colorfully painted spot also serves mariscos, fruits of the sea prepared with Peruvian flare.

The Astronomer and I stopped in for lunch while exploring southeastern Los Angeles.

While we waited for our food to arrive, we couldn’t help but admire the amazing mural spanning the entire length of the restaurant. It featured a multicultural cast chowing down on beef hearts, stomach lining, and Peruvian doughnuts. They were the happiest looking cartoon folks I’d ever seen.

The anticuchos de corazon, thinly sliced beef hearts seasoned in a wicked aji colorado marinade, are the restaurant’s signature dish. While the heart of the matter was appealingly chewy, its edges were charred just so.

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Picca – West Los Angeles

Published by Gastronomer on August 26, 2011 in Los Angeles, Peruvian, Restaurant Review and West Los Angeles. 11 Comments

Earlier this summer, I was tasked to photograph the food at Chef Ricardo Zarate‘s newest restaurant Picca. In exchange for a suite of photos, a friend and I were treated to dinner on the house. Considering how tough it is to score a reservation and the accolades surrounding the food, it was a more than fair trade in my book.

I’ve been sweet on Chef Zarate’s brand of Peruvian fare ever since dining at Mo-Chica, his first venture downtown. With Picca, he and his partner Stephane Bombet have created an energetic cantina serving modern Peruvian cuisine with a Japanese flair. There’s also a lively bar mixing up cocktails masterminded by Julian Cox.

The restaurant was barely three-weeks old when my friend Danny and I came in for dinner. Chef Zarate, who was recently named Best New Chef in America by Food & Wine, was calmly expediting at the pass.

The restaurant was insanely packed this evening, and we ended up having to wait nearly an hour for our table to open up. To pass the time away, Danny and I sipped on some pretty pink cocktails including the Martin Ricky ($11) and the Rhubarb Sidecar ($11). Real men drink pink.

The long wait was more than worth it when we were seated smack dab in front of the robata grill. Sous Chef Brian Huskey provided the evening’s entertainment with smoke, flames, and all sorts of skewering.

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Lomo Arigato – Los Angeles

Published by Gastronomer on November 21, 2009 in Japanese, Los Angeles, Meals on Wheels, Peruvian and Restaurant Review. 12 Comments

I love the Los Angeles mobile food scene. Sure, the food can be hit or miss and the lines can be alarming, but I’m a sucker for entrepreneurial ventures, especially of the edible variety. The only beef I have with the movement is its extreme bias toward The Westside of the city. Those of us who dwell east of the 5 must hoof it across town to partake in the fun or resign ourselves to weeping over our Twitter feeds. I’d willingly give up the Rose Parade in exchange for some meals-on-wheels affection!

On the second Thursday of every month, something downright magical happens—all of the city’s gourmet roach coaches roll into downtown Los Angeles for the Art Walk. Downtown isn’t exactly Pasadena, but it is definitely closer to home than Venice, so I’ll take what I can get.

The first truck that The Astronomer and I visited on a recent Art Walk venture was Lomo Arigato. Eric Nakata, the truck’s chef and owner, dishes out Peruvian cuisine with a Japanese flare. According the Chef Nakata, the food is Peruvian while the spicing is Japanese (i.e. Kikkoman soy sauce). The name of the truck is a combination of its signature dish—lomo saltado, and the Japanese word for ‘thank you very much’—domo arigato.

What’s special about the Lomo Arigato truck is its “open kitchen.” While waiting for our food to be prepared, we were entertained by a pyrotechnic display.

Lomo Arigato’s menu is only three items long—lomo saltado, chaufa (Peruvian-style fried rice), and tallarin saltado (Peruvian-style spaghetti). Each dish was priced at $7.

The Astronomer and I went with Chef Nakata’s suggestion and ordered the signature lomo saltado, which was comprised of tri-tip steak, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and french fries sauteed in red wine and soy sauce, and served over white rice. Aji sauce, also known on the truck as “the green sauce,” was served on the side.

The generously portioned lomo saltado was seasoned simply and well. The aji sauce stood out as the star of Lomo Arigato show. Its complex spiciness and addicting creaminess kicked all of the ingredients up several notches. Our only complaint with the lomo saltado was that the onions weren’t cooked well enough. A gentle caramelization would’ve made the entire dish a lot more appealing. Next time around, I’ll specifically request for the onions to be well done.

Follow Lomo Arigato on Twitter @lomoarigato.

POWER RANKINGS

India Jones Chow Truck > Dim Sum Truck > World Fare Bustaurant < Border Grill Truck > Cool Haus > Lomo Arigato > Don Chow > Kogi > Marked 5 > Dosa Truck > Phamish

Mo-Chica – Los Angeles

Published by Gastronomer on November 13, 2009 in Downtown, Los Angeles, Media Event (this meal was free), Peruvian and Restaurant Review. 11 Comments

Mo-Chica is a temple of contemporary Peruvian cuisine housed in the Mercado La Paloma, a former warehouse converted into a vibrant marketplace and community center. Of the 100+ restaurants I’ve had the pleasure of dining in during my first year living in Los Angeles, it’s Mo-Chica that surprised and impressed me the most. I knew going in that the food would be stellar based on Sir Jonathan Gold’s glowing review, but the meal I experienced exceeded all of my expectations.

Lima native Ricardo Zarate, Mo-Chica’s chef and proprietor, churns out food so beautiful and delicious that it could be easily served in a fancy pants establishment at twice the price. The restaurant’s warm service, kick back atmosphere, and overall quality redefine food court fare, and the city’s dining scene is all the richer for it.

Once a month, Mo-Chica pulls out all the stops (and the linens) for a six-course pre-fixe dinner. I’ve been wanting to attend one of these events ever since reading Ravenous Couple’s enthusiastic write-ups [1] [2], and finally had the chance the third time around. I attended the tasting dinner along with Hong of Ravenous Couple, Danny of Kung Food Panda, and Abby of Pleasure Palate.

Mo-Chica was packed to the rafters when we arrived; Hong thought it was the largest turn out he’d ever seen. I perused the marketplace while we waited for our table to open up. The Dia de los Muertos display caught my eye…

…while the soulful musicians caught my ears.

Before the first course arrived, we sipped on aguas frescas. Abby chose the chebada—barley ice tea, ginger, and herbs ($2), while Danny and Hong went for the maracuya—passion fruit juice ($2). I chose the chicha morada—purple corn ice tea ($2). The chicha morada was tart, refreshing, and a deep shade of royal.

The six-course dinner was priced at $35, but all four of us dined this evening as guests of Chef Zarate. We started with a locro soup made from Japanese pumpkins. Locro is a hearty thick stew popular along the Andes mountain range. The mildly sweet soup was drizzled with cream and topped with crisp croutons.

The second course was a causa, a popular dish along the Peruvian coast. The beauteous creation consisted of a layer of creamy diced avocado topped with a layer of chunky yellow potato mash. A luscious pile of dainty scallops smothered in a mentaiko (caviar) was perched atop the potato mash. This dish was seriously phenomenal.

The third course was a tiradito, a Japanese-influenced dish similar to ceviche. The slices of sushi-grade yellowtail rested in a pool of yuzu, tomato, and leche de tigre. The gorgeous cuts of fish married merrily with the tangy sauce.

It pleased me to no end when the tiradito was followed by another raw fish course—I love raw fishes because they’re so delicious! The fourth course consisted of seared bluefin tuna served with a camote (sweet potato) quiche and purple corn reduction. The delicately composed quiche offered the perfect textural and flavor contrast to the buttery slices of tuna.

The final savory course was a homey dish of braised oxtail with barley huancaina (a cheesy sauce made with aji amarillo peppers) risotto. It was rich, creamy, and stick-to-your-bones good.

Lastly, a plate of picarones (Peruvian pumpkin doughnuts) with a side of chancaca (unrefined cane sugar) honey dressing. I thoroughly adored the one picarone I ate, but had to pass the other two to Hong and Danny due to lack of stomach capacity.

At the end of our meal, Chef Zarate stopped by to say hello. After thanking him for the outstanding feast, we learned a bit more about the talent behind Mo-Chica. Chef Zarate spent years working in London, but eventually moved to Los Angeles after falling in love with the city’s ethnic diversity during a short visit. He began working in Los Angeles at The Biltmore Hotel downtown and currently divides his time between Mo-Chica and Wabi-Sabi in Venice, where he serves as executive chef.

UPDATE: I attended the November 19 tasting dinner and left hugely disappointed. The food was nowhere near as fresh and delicious as the one I wrote about and the portions had shrunk dramatically. The tasting featured two fried items, a dried-out halibut, and worst of all, chicken strips! I won’t be back for another tasting, but I would like to return to sample Mo-Chica’s regular menu. Ricardo Zarate, you’re breaking my heart with your inconsistency.

UPDATE UPDATE: I have since dined at Mo-Chica two more times for their regular menu offerings and it’s one of my favorite spots in the city. I love the daily ceviche special, quinoa mushroom risotto, and the seafood with rice. The prices are reasonable and the food is so, so good!

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Mo-Chica
3655 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90007
Phone: 213-747-2141