Visiting Cusco is always a fantastic insightful experience. Right in the Plazoleta Nazarenas, a few meters from Cusco’s “Plaza de Armas,” The Palacio Nazarenas, a Belmond hotel, offers guests and visitors a luxurious experience in their open areas, where you can walk through ancient Incan passageways that take you to the urban sanctuary of Mauka: Chef Pia León’s new restaurant.
THE SETTING
The main dinner has a new concept by León that offers all-day comfort food. Every element of the design draws on local craftsmanship; from the decorations, tableware, ceramics, textiles, to the furniture, they are part of the imprint of the Mater group (Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon’s restaurant group).
The menu is devoted to reviving endangered products and crops. Each grain, herb, and plant variety speaks of a deep history: a journey through diverse landscapes and cultures.
The menu has plates to share for lunch and dinner, and everything goes to the center of the table so you can enjoy it with your fellow travelers.
THE MENU
A Staple now on a Pia León menu, a loaf of freshly baked bread comes to the table; in Mauka, it’s a Machica bread and whipped butter; Machik is the Quechua name for a blend of cereals made from ground toasted barley or other grains like wheat and corn.
The cold dishes come to the center of the table with fresh salads with proteins; the SMOKED DUCK salad (cover picture) comes with fine slices of duck breast and fresh greens, and a delicious cream of avocado on the bottom; they also have a CECILIANO AND AMAZONIAN NUT, a fava bean Cebiche made with chayote (Ceciliano) with Amazonian nut milk and a CEVICHE AT 3000 METERS with non-spicy rocoto cream, trout, tangerine, and native onions. The SEASON is green leaves, white quinoa, fresh tomatoes, soft cheese, salad with cream of Amazonian nut, and one of our favorites, the SWEET ROOT salad, a mix of mustard greens with Andean tubers like elegant slices of arracacha, crunchy dice of yacon an avocado cream base and sacha inchi.
The PORK BELLY comes diced with greens to pair; it has a crunchy outside layer and a juicy bottom. The TROUT SUDADO is a stew with trout and grilled cauliflowers on a warm sauce with a crunchy olluco leaf that can work as a vessel for a texture experience in the mouth. BEEF CHEEK AT LOW TEMPERATURE with Urubamba giant corn, Pampa yuyo, Smoked caiguas.
Desserts play with textures and Andean ingredients; there’s a CITRUS sanki ice cream, Cara-Cara orange, Kunuka (an Andean mint) leaves, CACAO, chocolate textures, and jackfruit. To finish the experience, a plate of CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES using “cacao chuncho,” an endemic family of cacao from Cusco that have coca leaf on the inside, is creamy and not invasive and pairs perfectly with a specialty cup of espresso coffee drinks.
IN THE KNOW: Arriving at Cusco, which is 3400 masl, can be a challenging experience the first couple of days; however, for altitude sickness, Mauka can offer you complimentary oxygen tanks in case you need them. Mauka is located inside the Palacio Nazarenas, a Belmond Hotel in Cusco City; contact us here and enjoy your best Peruvian experience.
