Restaurant Magazine’s annual San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants were announced a few days ago, and we were very excited (though not surprised) to see two Lima establishments make the list. Lima now has as many restaurants on the list as London!
The highly-regarded rankings are an annual snapshot of the opinions and experiences of over 800 international restaurant industry experts, and spots on the list are highly-coveted. With two restaurants on the list, Peru continues to receive recognition as one of the world’s leading culinary destinations and inspires new Peruvian restaurants across the globe – giving the country and all of its culinary fans reason to celebrate both here and abroad.
The first featured Lima restaurant was none other than Gastón Acurio’s namesake restaurant, Astrid y Gastón, making its third straight appearance on the San Pelligrino Top 50 restaurants annual list. Jumping 21 places from last year’s list to number 14 in the world, Astrid y Gastón also received the Highest Climber award, given to the restaurant with the most improved ranking from the previous year. Gastón has been unstoppable as of late, his restaurant empire continues to expand domestically as well as internationally. He recently announced plans for opening a culinary institute here in Lima, and his original, signature eatery continues to receive worldwide recognition and acclaim. Offering inventive variations of traditional cuisine, Astrid y Gastón takes Peruvian haute cuisine to another level, and epitomizes the philosophy behind Gaston’s ever-expanding fine-dining empire.
The other Lima representative was Virgilio Martinez’s Central, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time this year. Since its opening in 2009, this high-end Lima eatery has earned the reputation of being a world-class restaurant and certainly one of the best in the city, as was reported by the Business Times in Singapore. With molecular gastronomic influences, creative preparations, and a wide-variety of ingredients sourced from all over the country, Virgilio prepares Peruvian cuisine with a global flair, including an excellent tasting menu (one of the few in Lima) that takes you on a culinary tour through Peru.
World’s 50 Best also announced that they plan on hosting Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants event this September 4th here in Lima. This inaugural awards ceremony, sponsored by Cusqueña, will focus on, recognize, and celebrate the region’s gastronomic diversity and quality. We hope to see many more Peruvian restaurants on this upcoming list!