La Mar Cebicheria Peruana

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana
11 Madison Ave.
(between 23rd St & 24th St)
Manhattan, NY 10010

Despite common knowledge, Mario Batali, Jean Georges Vongerichten, and Daniel Boulud aren't the only chefs with restaurant empires. Gaston Acurio, widely know in Latin American circles, as the Jamie Oliver/Gordon Ramsay/Ferran Adria of cooking, travels with security detail because he is that popular.

After reading an article in the Financial Times about his goals to bring Peruvian cuisine to the same respect as French and Italian cuisines, I've been waiting with bated breath for this restaurant to open its New York location in the former Tabla space.

The drinks program is definitely not the strong point of La Mar.

As you should always do in a Peruvian restaurant, we started with a trio of pisco sours. These pisco sours were disappointingly blended, and not freshly shaken; this obfuscates the delicate interplay between the lemon juice, brandy, and egg white in this classic drink. Additionally, our first round had half froth in the drink, which was disconcerting given the $12 price tag for the 4 oz. of pisco imbibed. The chicha, a Peruvian drink made from purple maiz, had the sultry look of a jamaica (a Mexican sorrel-based drink) but the consistency of a watered-down sangria. Stick with the lightly, effervescent Peruvian beer Cusquena, served in a chilled pilsner glass.

Neither is the service.

Some drinks took 15 minutes to come to the table, and one runner accidentally placed our round of pisco sours on the table next to us, who arrived 5 minutes after we arrived.

The food however make this place a destination for the gastronomically inclined.

If there is one thing to try culinarily this fall, it is the cebiche at La Mar. My guests and I confirmed that the cebiche tasting (fluke/salmon/tuna) was absolutely mind-blowing. The fluke was marinated in a silky, lime juice and combined with red onions and Peruvian corn. Although salmon has become a cliche at most Japanese sushi restaurants, the mezcla of salmon, octopus, and crispy calamari was a beautiful combination of temperatures and textures. The hefty bite of yellowfin tuna was propped up by the smokiness of the red tamarind sauce. The sauces were so good I slurped up the remaining liquids from their bowls.

As our first mid-couse, we had he oliva causa (octopus, piquillo pepper, avocado, quail egg, black olive). Despite their diminutive stature, they were two bites of whipped goodness, halfway in texture between a bacalao fritter and a knish.

Next was the hamachi tiradito. Slices of fish were swathed (rather, dunked) in a yellow aji leche de tigre. I'm considerably more a fan of Desnuda's tiradito preparation where the sauce lightly dresses the fish, although I didn't mind scooping up the citrus sauce that the hamachi slices were drowned in with my spoon.

Lastly, we had the tacu tacu a lo pobre. Perfectly seared and sliced rounds of hangar steak were accompanied with a fried plaintain topped with quail egg, along tomatoes, onions, and a crispy potato hash, doused with a chorrillana sauce.

If you bring your appetite, be prepared to bring your American Express black card, because this place can get very expensive very quickly. Nevertheless, Gaston Acurio has brought a fresh new take on Peruvian cuisine that should be checked out in this beautifully redesigned space.