Food of the Andes by the Golden Gate

SAN FRANCISCO has a well-deserved reputation for restaurant fare that is freshly inventive, but with studiously authentic roots. Gastón Acurio, a celebrity chef in Lima, Peru, known for his novo-Andino cuisine, which adds modern sensibilities about freshness, presentation and technique to the culinary traditions of Peru, took note of this when considering where to open his beachhead restaurant in the United States.

“In San Francisco, people love to eat, and are open to new cultures and flavors,” Mr. Acurio said. “It’s the best place for us to start our dream of bringing our food to America.”

The city’s connection to Peru dates back to Gold Rush days, when pisco, white Peruvian brandy, was the drink of choice. So late last year, Mr. Acurio opened La Mar Cebicheria Peruana (Pier 1 ½; 415-397-8880; www.lamarcebicheria.com), adding to a collection of Peruvian restaurants to make San Francisco perhaps the best place in North America to sample Peru’s rapidly evolving, fervid foodie scene.

A new generation of often classically trained chefs (Mr. Acurio studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris) is making wildly creative use of Peru’s diversity. The country’s climate zones range from Amazonian to alpine, nurturing all kinds of foods, and its riot of cultural influences includes Andean, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and African.

“By nature, Peruvian cuisine is a fusion cuisine,” said Alejandro Reccio, chef de cuisine at Limón, an elegantly boisterous Peruvian restaurant in the Mission District. Limón (524 Valencia Street; 415-252-0918; www.limon-sf.com) was recently closed for remodeling but is reopening soon. Meanwhile, an annex, Limón Rotisserie (1001 South Van Ness Avenue; 415-821-2134; www.limonrotisserie.com), is serving a limited but well-executed menu focusing on pollo a la brasa — rotisserie chicken.

Ceviche, the classic dish of raw fish marinated in lime juice and spices, contains echoes of Inca dishes, but with limes, a Spanish introduction. In its modern form, it arose at the hands of Japanese chefs employed in the kitchens of Peruvian gentry. At Limón, the ceviche de pescado ($9.25) is dependably good; a zingy sauce and delectable choclo (big Peruvian corn) kernels enliven toothsome chunks of halibut.

Limón combines sophisticated interpretations of Peruvian cuisine like this with exquisitely executed, unembellished Peruvian comfort food like pollo a la brasa ($9.50 for a half chicken). Marinated in oregano, cumin and lime, it was tender with a lightly spiced bite. It was accompanied by dipping sauces made with Andean herbs and peppers.

Piqueo’s (830 Cortland Avenue; 415-282-8812; www.piqueos.com), in the Bernal Heights neighborhood, is a red, intimate corner with a small, bustling open kitchen and the friendly vibe that is de rigueur at San Francisco’s Peruvian restaurants. For five years, the chef, Carlos Altamirano, has supplied this quiet neighborhood with daring novo-Andino inventions. They include plates of tequeños ($10), wispy wontons filled with ground squid, fried and dusted in sugar and cinnamon; and pastel de choclo ($10), a mounded torte of choclo and potato alive with peppery watercress.

On a more basic level, numerous small restaurants around San Francisco serve the straightforward fare of Lima’s neighborhoods.

At one such place, Mi Lindo Peru (3226 Mission Street; 415-642-4897), a cheerful, unpretentious space of fake wood paneling and Inca kitsch, the ceviche ($14.95) is a big pile of seafood that with a hoppy Cusqueña lager ($4) could constitute a great lunch on its own. But I followed it up with parihuela ($15.95), a classic Peruvian bouillabaisse overflowing with soft, yielding chunks of fish that contrasted with chewy squid and clam in a rich red broth.

Just up the street, I found Inkas (3299 Mission Street; 415-648-0111; www.inkasrestaurant.com), a lively spot in an old, high-ceilinged bank building, and joined a happy, noisy lunch crowd (including lots of happy, noisy children) for more basic fare: coastal Peruvian dishes as they might be created by a home cook. This meant that classics like ceviche mixto ($14) and pollo saltado (chunks of chicken sautéed with peppers, onions and French fries, $12) were filling without being inspired. Only the anticuchos, skewers of beef heart ($7), really stood out: they were perfectly done, like succulent lean steak, peppery and piquant with a wash of lime.


La Mar, Mr. Acurio’s new establishment, is a big, elegant space overlooking San Francisco Bay. Moody blue light is combined with dark wood and tiles. But flavors seemed to take a back seat to presentation in some of its small plates on the night of my visit.

The ceviches ($16 to $19) were lovely assemblages of fish, but the sauces seemed a little wan. Cebiche Nikei ($17) presented succulent tuna with Japanese cucumber and avocado that only made me miss sushi.

The causas ($11 to $12) at La Mar take the form of delicate cups of suave, cool whipped potatoes of startling hues topped with subtle delicacies, rather than the filling snack that goes by that name in coastal Peru. These causas verged on conceptual: better seen and not tasted.

But the mains were satisfying. Arroz norteño ($24) was smoky, with succulent calamari and sparkling salsa criolla. Cau cau ($31) — roasted scallops with a corn risotto — were succulent and sweet, set free by simple flavors and a pleasant saltiness.

And desserts were stellar: exquisite chocolate bombs called buñuelos ($12), and dessert spring rolls ($10) stuffed with sweet rice pudding and served with bright mango sorbet and fresh mint serving as counterpoint to the elegant crunch.

In the end, it was delightful. Inside La Mar, the crowd grew and the sound rose to a roar. Outside, lights gleamed in the black bay water. And Mr. Acurio’s vision — to make ceviche as known and beloved as sushi — seemed a noble cause indeed.