(7/6/12 - updated with opening date)
2012 was predicted by many chefs to be the year of Peruvian cuisine and that continues apace with the launch of Lima in Rathbone Place, yet another restaurant helping to boost the appeal of Fitzrovia.
Lima comes with considerable pedigree from Peru. It's headed up by Virgilio Martinez who runs highly-rated restaurant Central in Lima and who was Executive Chef of Astrid y Gaston, rated as one of the "World's 50 Best" restaurants (as well as previously working at the Ritz and Four Seasons in London). In charge of front of house is Restaurant Manager Bunmi Okolosi, previously Maitre d' of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.
The restaurant will be on two levels - with the top part of the restaurant going for a casual feel, surrounding an open kitchen and extending to the basement. The basement itself will have a bar which will focus on that drink of the moment - the Pisco Sour as well as South American rums, wines and Peruvian beer Cusqueña.
The menu looks to take its lead from its Peruvian cousin and is split into a “crudo” (raw) section, which includes ceviches and tiraditos, starters and main courses, and a tasting menu with dishes including starters of octopus “al olivo” or Duck cured magret and main courses of turbot with an Amazon citrus and suckling pig with potatoes cultivated at 4,000 metres.
Hot Dinners caught up with Virgilio to find out more.
Will you be in the kitchens here in London?
I will be in London several months per year but I will still be based in Peru running my restaurant Central. The Head Chef of Lima is longtime friend, Robert Ortiz.
I met him in London, we shared the same "partie" in a London restaurant about 13 years ago. After that, we started to see each other in Peru and eventually in the Amazon part of Peru, the place where he grew up. He really helped me to interact with the nice native Amazonian people and their amazing products. Since then, 5 years ago, he became part of Central restaurant's creativity team while he was a chef living in London.
What sort of dishes can we expect to see? And can you tell us anything about the cocktails on offer?
We are Peruvians and we will be offering a Peruvian experience. We take the biodiversity of Peru as our main inspiration, the tremendous amount of products, techniques and a good understanding of cooking and living with deep ecological values. The food and dishes will have fresh and clear Peruvian flavours, sourced by either UK local and Peruvian producers - vegetable roots, herbs, sustainable fish, Inca techniques, Amazonian citruses, Andean chilli peppers, etc.
The cocktail proposal will be as we do in Lima, a city full of energy and passion. It will be flexible and playful, influenced by the Pisco tradition and the new generation of mixologist that find herbs, fruits from all over to infuse their piscos.
We also spoke to co-owner Gabriel Gonzalez for more info about the restaurant.
Why was London your first choice of city for Lima?
London is one of the most exciting cities in the world. The restaurant scene is very international, people are very open minded and the market is extremely dynamic. We thought that Lima could be well perceived and welcomed by Londoners, being a new concept. The idea is to showcase Lima, Peru's capital, as the gastronomic capital of the Americas, and what a better place to do that that in London?
There's a lot of buzz about Peruvian food with a number of restaurants opening - how will Lima be different?
Lima will be different in that we have a team based in Lima, Peru at Central (Virgilio's restaurant). There will be a constant synergy among both teams (at Lima in London and Central in Peru). This constant communication will keep Lima in London vibrant, relevant and always at the forefront of innovation.
In addition to this, the team at Central is the base and foundation of Virgilio's creations, where there is a constant exchange between local producers and communities, which gives us access to Peru's vast biodiversity: from the Andes, the Amazon and the Pacific Coast.
Lima will open on Rathbone Place on July 11. You can book on their website.
