Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/241240
WINTER ESCAPES Peruvian Import A TASTE OF FAMED CHEF GASTÓN ACURIO'S LIMA LANDS IN CHICAGO WITH TANTA. BY ARI BENDERSKY Chef Jesus Delgado fires up a plate of pobre nikei, made from sliced skirt steak atop quail egg and rice. 70 PHOTOGRAPHY BY HUGE GALDONES Y ou can add Lima, Peru to the list of the world's emerging culinary hot spots. In the past decade, the South American city has captured the attention of chefs and foodies around the world thanks to its cuisine's richly diverse flavor profile, an amalgamation of Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish influences. Chef Daniel Humm of New York's Michelin-three-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park has declaimed, "Right now, the best restaurants in the world are Peruvian." Splashy dining destinations from top Lima chefs like Richard Sandoval and Virgilio Martínez have opened in New York, London, and Miami, and former El Bulli owner Ferran Adrià himself has gotten into the act, opening a PeruvianJapanese fusion spot, Pakta, in Barcelona and recently declaring that "God has spoken—the future of gastronomy is in Peru." One chef can take much of the credit for leading the hometown charge: Gastón Acurio. The celebrated 46-year-old owns more than 30 restaurants throughout the world, including Astrid y Gastón, which is listed at 14 on the most recent S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list—one slot above Chicago's Michelin-three-starred Alinea. Considering Acurio's acclaim, it's understandable that when news broke that the chef would be bringing a bit of that Lima buzz to Chicago with new River North destination Tanta, the excitement was palpable—from Chicagoans, Peruvian expats, and Acurio himself. "Chicago is one of the most exciting cities in the world of food and dining," says the chef, who has authored 20 bestselling cookbooks in his home country. "Chicago has inspiring chefs like Grant Achatz and Rick Bayless, and also has a community of consumers continued on page 72 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 070-074_MA_Taste_SMD_Opener/Cocktails_Winter_14.indd 70 1/10/14 10:01 AM