If you're not South American than you're likely unfamiliar with Peruvian cuisine and the regard to which it's help by Latin foodies around the world. Astrid y' Gaston was one of the first to export the brand on a gourmet level, with outposts in international cities like Bogota, Santiago and Madrid. The Mexico City installment is located in a chunky, architectural smoothed stone structure in the Polanco neighborhood where an ivy-covered wall is interrupted by intricate iron gate. Inside, a formal dining room is captured inside an elegant space of tall, creamy-colored ceiling with Aztec-inspired geometrical wall paneling and modern day seating arrangements covered in linen slipcovers. A series of interconnecting rooms are defined by accordion-style paneling that opens to manicured, sculptural terrace with fireplace and lounge.
The Food
Husband-and-wife owners of this Lima-based kitchen install a native Peruvian chef to oversee a meticulous dining experience of New Andean cuisine. Meals begin with traditional fresh cornbread and bread-stick made in house with a colorful yellow salsa of which you’ll inevitably eat far too much. Appetizers like Sea Urchin Two Ways or Ceviche includes the freshest of locally sourced seafood, the later of which is arranged on the plate in artistic stack of octopus and calamari with sweet aftertaste of molasses. Main course is a mixture of hearty sucking pig with chickpea puree, ‘noble robado’ that’s essentially a whitefish in miso with fried oysters and Pachamanca Urbana that’s a traditional whole chicken cooked in a Andean pot.
Last Word
Don’t miss the dessert recipes like fired donuts or hot truffles from recipes created by Astrid herself. Photos: Astrid y’ Gaston
