For the first time in the history of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the world’s best restaurant is located in Latin America. A historical fact since the introduction of the always controversial classification in 2002 – the electoral system is somewhat opaque – that has spread to different countries of the world, mainly in Europe and once in the United States. In this edition, Central in Lima (Peru) has been selected to carry this award for a year.
It took a decade for Virgilio Martínez (Lima, Peru, 45 years old), always accompanied by his wife, also a cook, Pía León (Lima, 36 years old), to reach the top: in 2013 he was 50th and thus occupying an important place jumping to 15th place the following year. Since then, the climb has been unstoppable, albeit with some troubling declines: in 2015, he was placed straight onto the fourth tier, where he stayed for two years, until falling down a position in 2017 and losing another in 2018, where he stayed until 2021 and rose to fourth place. Last year, in addition to being voted Best in Latin America, it also took second place ahead of Spain’s Disfrutar (Barcelona) and DiverXO (Madrid), who took second and third place respectively this year.
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It was a dream the couple had wanted to fulfill for a long time. And they worked for it. In 2020, the pandemic isolated many hospitality establishments that used to receive large numbers of foreign customers, including voters on the British media outlet William Reed’s list. And they followed the phrase of the English philosopher Francis Bacon: “If the mountain does not come to Muhammad, Muhammad will go to the mountain.” Martínez and León crossed the Atlantic and traveled the Iberian Peninsula, where they cooked in the homes of chef friends and her presented gastronomic offer: they traveled to Portugal, where they were received by José Avillez in bel canto (Lisbon); In Barcelona, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas opened the Disfrutar kitchen for them, and in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz), Ángel León hosted Aponiente.
It wasn’t easy to get here. In order to understand Martínez’s culinary concerns, it is appropriate to dwell on his biography for a moment. His father is a lawyer and his mother is an architect. They wanted their son to follow a similar path, but the boy wanted to be a professional skateboarder. He tried but suffered a broken collarbone. He enrolled in law and immediately realized that it wasn’t his thing. The idea of being locked in an office scared him. he ran away Although he had no passion for cooking, he read books on gastronomy. He wanted to leave the country. Be free. And he enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa (Canada) and continued his studies in London. At the age of 19, the British capital opened his eyes: he worked at the Hotel Ritz until his visa expired, where he began to familiarize himself with the kitchen. Disappointed and back in Lima, he made a stopover in New York and stayed there. He ended up at the Lutèce restaurant and began preparing rice dishes with lobster, tuna millefeuille and broth as described in the Book Central (Phaedo).
Interior of the central room, in a picture provided by the restaurant.
A year and a half later, his residency permit expired again and he had to return to his hometown, where he began collaborating with two well-known Peruvian chefs: Rafael Osterling, who prepared Asian, Mediterranean and Peruvian fusion cuisine, and Gastón Acurio. who was preparing French cuisine at the time, although hesitantly introduced Peruvian dishes such as Lomo Saltado. Martínez, impressed by the superiority of French recipes, admits that he did not understand his country’s cuisine very well. He returned to London to work at the Four Seasons Hotel and there he again felt the need to experience something new. He traveled to Asia, toured Thailand, did an internship at the Four Seasons Chinese restaurant in Singapore and was impressed by the way the Chinese prepared dim sum, something he wasn’t good at. It was then that he began to appreciate Peru’s culinary tradition, which he, on the other hand, began to see everywhere he went. In Europe he saw ollucos, in the United States he discovered quinoa, Daniel Boulud made ceviche and Raymond Blanc made tiraditos. He returned to work with Gastón Acurio at Astrid y Gastón and participated in the opening of the Madrid branch. Once again he felt like a fake. He prepared Peruvian cuisine in Spain, where ingredients were limited. They wanted to get to the origin of the product.
One of Central’s dishes, in a picture of the restaurant.Gustavo Vivanco Leon
He took time off to travel Peru and explore the Andes at Cuzco and Huaraz, the Amazon at Pucallpa and the coast around Chiclayo. He discovered ingredients he had never heard of or seen before. It was the starting point for Central, which opened in 2008 in an old house in Miraflores. According to their own statements, the food was initially “a bewildering mix of tastes” due to the mixture of European ingredients with Thai flavors. Problems with opening permits forced him to close for five months, which helped him reflect and analyze what it means to own a restaurant. At this time, he strengthened ties with Pía León, who worked as a clerk but stayed by his side. Together they started valuing suppliers, producers and farmers, they redesigned the website although the digital presentation is not their forte, they organized the restaurant according to a hierarchy where the team managed information, was well directed and focused.
The next step was to set up a research area for the Mater Iniciativa restaurant to study Peruvian biodiversity. And when it came to structuring the letter, they put themselves in the shoes of those visiting Peru for the first time to let them travel through the territory through the kitchen. They sought dishes at altitude, beginning their proposition from sea level across the desert and valleys until they reached 4,500 meters in the Andes. They worked with unknown ingredients like chaco clay or maca root. Instead of slicing truffles, they started slicing tuntas, freeze-dried potatoes.
Slime and honey from central Peru. Image provided by the restaurant.
In Central’s rooftop garden, they started growing bulbous oxalis, known as oca, whose leaves and flowers serve as decoration, while the roots represent the real treasure, a highly nutritious vegetable. The sea has always been present – Lima is lapped by the Pacific Ocean – in ceviches. Under the rocks there are crabs, spider crabs, red anemones and starfish, and in the water there are anchovies, tuna, mackerel, horse mackerel, sole, sole, lilies and cojinovas. There are also squid, crab, mussels and mussels. And all of this is interpreted by Martínez and León, resulting in different tasting menus. On rock spiders they play with deep orange crabs with edible algae. They cook potato ferments, from a village at 3,800 meters above sea level, tin can, a climbing plant that grows in the Andes, ox heart, a hallmark of Peruvian identity, scallops with sweet potato roots, vegetables from the mountains, hake in tempura baptized as the Sacred Valley. And they make desserts with highland chaco clay.
There are currently several tasting menus at Central: Uneven Territory Experience and Creativity of the Day Menu, each with 12 dishes for 1,045 Peruvian soles (in exchange 264 euros), Mundo Mater Experience and Mundo Creativity with 14 dishes each for 1,250 euros (316 euros). The wine pairings: 108 euros and 124 euros. With a combination of ferments, distillates and wines from South America, 115 euros and 131 euros. The alcohol-free experience, based on nectars, infusions and extracts with Mater products, ranges from 56 to 70 euros.
Cocoa dish from Central, in an image provided by the restaurant. Gustavo Vivanco Leon
Martínez and León are also the owners of the Kjolle restaurant in Lima. In it, Pía León offers an immersion in a menu full of products from the sea that meet others from valleys, high lakes, mountains and Amazon forests. MIL is yours too, an immersive experience – $550, 504 euros in return – with a cuisine proposal that inspires and is attuned to the area, connecting to the daily life of farming communities, their ancient customs and traditions at the Moray Archaeological Center.
Central
- address: Av. Pedro de Osma 301, Barranco, Lima (Peru).
- phone: +51 1 242 8515
- bookings: [email protected]
- network: centralrestaurante.com.pe