The Next Big Food Trend in Lima

Last year, I predicted that poke would be the new food trend in Lima. This year, I’ve seen the rise of food halls, burrito/tacos, shawarma, gluten free, and artisanal EVERYTHING.
Food halls: with the advent of Mercado 28, a food court with 10 or so restaurants and bars, is all the rage. It is a food hall, a concept that started trending a few years back in Europe.
Burritos/tacos: With the return of Taco Bell, the arrival is complete. It seems everything is in a flat bread these days.
Shawarma: shaved meat in a flat bread. Sort of a burrito on a upright rotisserie.
Gluten free: Yes. Also, keto, and other types of diets.
Artisanal (most of the artisanal bread is the antithesis of gluten-free): What goes around, comes around. In the old days, this was called home-made or hand-made. Now it’s artsy.
But, I’m predicting the new trend will be gourmet food for your dog. You read it here first! Event cookies that you can share with your dog! More and more restaurants are advertising pet friendly, but I’m predicting they will soon have dog menus too!

Brunch in Lima – “Bronche”

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From Homemade

An aside: I’m contributing a word to Peruvian Spanish: Bronche — to rhyme with Lonche. Brunch is a new entry in the Peruvian daily food schedule so the Peruvians call brunch “bruench” based on the gringo term. I think it would be cuter if they called it “bron-chay”to rhyme with their term for tea time. Just my suggestion… **** July 28, 2018**** I heard a waiter say this word today! And I have a witness!

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From Las Vecinas

For a late night culture, it’s a little odd that the Limenos haven’t embraced brunch yet. Most of the places that serve “Gringo style brunch” — eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, and so on, stop serving breakfast food items before noon (this is utterly wrong because the essence of brunch is that breakfast items can be had until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Here are a few places (not hotel restaurants or American chain restaurants) that serve brunch… okay, the two places.

Homemade, Revett 259, Miraflores. Closed on Sundays. All food is homemade.

Las Vecinas, Domeyer 219, Barranco. All the food is homemade including the pasta on the lunch menu (which is available at noon during the same time as the brunch menu). Most of the food is healthy and organic. I’d like more grease.

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Eggs on potatoes from Homemade

I will update this posting if I find any more places. Or a place that serves American style breakfast sausages.

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Potatoes with fresh cheese from Las Vecinas

Sloe Drink from a Slow Walk

The sloe berries are blue when ripe and they grow on tall bushes/low trees (clearly my grasp of botany is limited) in temperate climes like Denmark. They look like blueberries but are super sour and probably not delicious in their raw state (my friend tried one and I surmised this from the look on her face).

To make a sloe drink, you pick the berries, freeze them for a few days, and then put them in to the alcohol (vodka? gin?), let them marinate for a few days. Then drink.

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The berries matched his eyes, and he was accommodating enough to model the sloe berries for me.