Kjolle

Pía León is Chef de Cuisine at Central Restaurante, and with her husband Virgilio Martínez Véliz, head Chef, has made Central into what it is today - the #6 ranked of the top 50 restaurants in the world for 2018. She has some ideas that don't really fit with Central's thrust, however, and so in this year - upstairs from Central - she opened her own restaurant, Kjolle, where she can indulge her culinary ideas.

In an interview with The World's 50 Best blog, she had this to say about her venture:

 “We’ll be working more with vegetables at Kjolle (pronounced koy-ay) overall. I’m investigating some projects with Mater Iniciativa, which is how we obtain information to create concepts, that Central hasn’t been able to revise and we want to show off in Kjolle. One example is mauka, a root that’s no longer used in Peru but has adapted really well to both Andean and Amazonian soils.

“I’ll be using lots of seafood plus I love tubercles so I want to take a fresh look at them. Mater’s work with herbs is very important so there will be plenty on the menu. I love citrus fruits from the Amazon, products that Central doesn’t necessarily use, while corn on the cob is my all-time favourite ingredient.”

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Let there be bread! In this case, blue corn bread, with whipped butter and some kind of pesto with strong hints of olives

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Amazonian Colors

Catch of the day - Cacao - Taperiba

The catch of the day was sea bass; the frozen powdered taperiba fruit was a good compliment. The chocolate sauce was salty, with lime, and without a strong cocoa flavour. Paired with Muralhas de Monção, from an area on the border of Spain and Portugal.

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Scallops and Seeds

Pacae - Lime extract - Ginger

The pacae and lime extract combine to form the juice in which the scallops are nestled

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Tubers

Oca - Olluco - Potato

All of the various tubers were held in place in the shell by a layer of goat cheese. Wine was Rossese Bianco (Piedmont Italy). I want to try this wine with each and every cheese there is, just to see what goes best.

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Cured Duck

Squid - Onion - Kañihua

Duck tartare, garnished with the squid and onion. The pocket bread was kañihua with squid ink, and brought a slight sweetness to the party. Pack the pocket with the tartare, and go to town! Accompanied by Gaia Busquete, an Argentinean malbec/syrah.

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Vegetal Diversity

Yacón - Coffee Broth - Chonta - Artichoke

And also avocado. Paired with Pisano Cisplatino, from Uruguay. Tannat grape, no oak is used - stainless steel only - the vintner wants to show only the grape flavour.

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Beef & Coconut

Coconut - Cashew - Macambo - Paico

Beef shortrib, roasted 12 hours. On the left are seasoned cashew crumbles, and creamy coconut dressing thingy. Combined with the beef, the impact was insane.

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Frozen Purple Mashwa

Pitahaya - Muña

Under the flakes and petals lie blue sweet potatoe ice cream and pitahaya fruit cubes. Paired with a 2017 Jadot Coteaux Bourguignons - 100% gamay rosé.

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Cacao from MIL

Chirimoya - Amazonian honey

Under the top bits is a chocolate mousse in which are nestled chunks of custard apple (chirimoya). The whole thing is dusted with powdered honey. Paired with Alma 4, a sparkling red from Argentina (bonarda grape).

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Bonus Chocolate!!!

Aaaaaaand just when we thought things were done, what should appear but two lovely nuggets of 72% cacao, dusted with coca leaf powder!