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Peruvian gastronomy to conquer the world, says Gastón Acurio

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Gastón Acurio, the Peruvian chef, now has his eyes set on making Peruvian cuisine as familiar around the world as its Mexican, Chinese and Thai counterparts.

After opening his “Cebichería La Mar” restaurant in San Francisco, he is focusing now on New York city, which he sees as the real launching pad for rapid expansion. He is currently looking for an appropriate spot and expects to firm up a deal soon.

According to Time.com, Luis Kiser, head of the Peruvian Franchise Chamber, thinks that “Peruvian cuisine will will put Peru on the map, opening the door for the exportation of other products.”

Gastón Acurio's restaurants, Astrid y Gastón, operate in seven countries outside Peru, while Cebichería La Mar has restaurants in six countries.

"We are living the same kind of moment Japan did decades ago, inventing a market where one does not exist," says Acurio, quoted by Luc Chauvin.

All in all, 12 Peruvian restaurants have franchised their formulas and are operating abroad, while another 20 are in the process of expanding beyond Peru's borders.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

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# WOW says :
16 September, 2009 [ 18:02 ]

Conquer the World? gimme a break

# pedro says :
16 September, 2009 [ 18:59 ]

Isn't this what he said last year? And the year before? And the year before that? And the...

I've yet to see any place in N.America or Europe where there is Peruvian produce or restaurants except in pockets where there is a sustainable Peruvian population (I'll cede the USA and the Netherlands as almost anything is better than what those nations eat, otherwise lotsa luck).

Let's be real here, if the gastronomy from a particular place was so good that it was going to conquer the world, it already would have by now.

# EC says :
17 September, 2009 [ 07:59 ]

Conquer the world is too much and beside who cares. The Conquering of a large segment of USA population is already happening. USA 10% of population are hispanic (~ 30 million, BTW Peru's is 26 million); a significant number of this population (salvadoreans, mexicans, colombians,puerto ricans. etc) already likes Peruvian food so it is not unusual to see Peruvian restaurants packed with non-peruvian customers. Further, the quality of service and presentation are already starting to get better, I just hope that Peruvian restaurants do not become as expensive as the one ( La Mar) in San Francisco.

# Pedro Villena says :
17 September, 2009 [ 12:02 ]

Gaston just shut your mouth and promote clean safe food everyone can eat, then you will not need to brag... everyone else will do that for you !!!

You and others need to do a bit of research, do you know ??? if you contact a travel agent in most countries outside of Peru and tell them you are about to travel to Peru, they will recommend you to take crackers, snacks and peanut butter... This is very sad !!! but very true !!!
You have a lot of work to do here !!! before you try and conquer the world my friend.

# EC says :
17 September, 2009 [ 12:34 ]

Peruvian cuisine is among the best 12 in the world, that's a fact (The Economist 2006). Among those 12 are mexican, thailand, chinese, (to name a few) that I am sure the embassy recommends to eat crackers and water. There is nothing wrong in making Peruvian cuisine marketable in foreign countries despite of shortcomings at home.

# David N says :
17 September, 2009 [ 14:41 ]

Peruvian food:  lots of mushed up food, always served with white rice, given a healthy dose of MSG and aji to cover up the poor quality ingrediants and awful flavor.  Jello for dessert.

# fred says :
17 September, 2009 [ 15:28 ]

Well, contrary to the whinery here, there have been many positive and in-depth stories and article--as recent as the past several months--written here within the tri-state New York area that has close ties to the Peruvian population.

Interestingly enough, there have been a few spots opening here in midtown Manhattan, including a pena, that's constantly packed with overpriced food (can't get anymore NYC-ish than that), and a few restaurants that have received good reviews.

So any visitors here reading the quotes from this outspoken chef as well as our usual resident crybaby posters here---sure, GA blabs a bit but he's not far off although I don't see a conquest, maybe a slight penetration.

# WOW says :
17 September, 2009 [ 17:25 ]

As someone who has lived here for 4 years and have been in 20 other countries,  can say this, while Peruvian food is good Peruvians have an over inflated opionon about thier food. Theyb seem to think it is the best in the world. There is great food in many countries. Variety is the spice of life

# Jorge says :
17 September, 2009 [ 20:30 ]

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of Peruvian restaurants in the Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco, they are very expensive though. It seems from the comments similar things are happening in New York City.

My brother on the other hands complains about the lack of such restaurants in the Dallas area.

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