Gaston Acurio opens a La Mar in São Paulo, his first restaurant in Brazil

Gaston Acurio is definitely the most ambicious and self-assured chef working today in Latin America. Even Alex Atala doesn't come close. The man is on a mission to get the world hooked on Peruvian cuisine, which he plans to achieve by opening restaurants in as many world capitals and the markets' meltdown will allow.

Last week he opened the first Acurio restaurant in Brazil. The La Mar Cebicheria is in the
trendy Itaim district.
Needless to say, the big draw are the cebiches (a.k.a. ceviches), like the mixed seafood one pictured below.



He opened the first La Mar in Lima, in 2004 em Lima. It now has branches in San Francisco, Santiago, Costa Rica and Mexico City.


Some of the cebiches on the menu are:
Clássico (robalo) R$35
Criollo (manjuba, octopus and mussels in leche de tigre criolla) R$30
Elegante (fish and shellfish in leche de tigre spiked with rocoto- a mild pepper sauce) R$39

And also:
Tiraditos
Laqueado (grilled tuna, passion fruit salsa, honey) R$34
Trio (tuna, salmon, corvina, each topped with a different sauce: aji amarillo, aji panca e aji rocoto) R$36.




The design, said to be inspired by the beach but in actual fact quite urban-looking, was done by two Peruvian architects. They tried to stick to natural materials: iron, cement, bamboo, wood, stone.




La Mar Cebicheria Peruana
Rua Tabapuã, 1410 – Jardins
Tel.: (11) 3073-1213

Gaston Acurio set to open a Cevicheria La Mar in São Paulo

The more I read about him, the more I find incredible the pace at which Peru's Gaston Acurio is opening restaurants here, there and everywhere.

Recent example: La Mar Cebicheria Peruana in San Francisco. And now São Paulo is next.

For more info on the chef, there’s a great story on him that ran in the L.A. Times, here's the link.

The São Paulo La Mar has as business partner Alexandre Miqui, who owns another restaurant called Shimo. A Peruvian chef is already in Brazil training the team and teaching them to make all six ceviches that will be on the menu. I've heard the opening is slated for this month - we'll see...

For a detailed report on Santiago’s Cebicheria La Mar, with photos of the décor and the dishes, just click here.

São Paulo La Mar: Rua Tabapuã, 1410