La Mar Cebichería Peruana Takes Peruvian to Prime Time
Gastón Acurio is betting on Pisco punch being the next mojito.
La Mar Best Bite from 7x7 Magazine on Vimeo.
video by Jason Jurgens
There’s a celebrity in our midst—one, we’re betting, you’ve yet to hear of. Never mind that he presides over a mind-boggling number of restaurants in 10 countries throughout South and Central America and in Europe, has authored numerous cookbooks and has his own cooking show. Here in the States, Gastón Acurio isn’t exactly a household name—yet. Acurio, often referred to as the “ambassador of Peruvian food,” has set his sights on pan-American domination, and has chosen SF as his beachhead.
The first US outpost of Acurio’s Peruvian-style cevicheria, the aptly named La Mar Cebichería Peruana, is underwritten with ambition. Located at Pier 1½, the 8,000-square-foot space, designed by Cass Calder Smith in collaboration with a design team from Peru, is divided into three sections—a street-side bar, a middle lounge with a 27-seat ceviche bar where diners can watch the chefs at work and a main dining room set on the water—the latter of which has a breezy Spanish-colonial feel, with exposed whitewashed beams, windows overlooking a patio and chairs webbed with electric-blue nylon. Though the restaurant is not, at first glance, what San Franciscans generally gravitate toward (it’s not a “neighborhood” joint, and the chef has—gasp—a sandwich-shop franchise in Peru) the food and drink may well convert nonbelievers, particularly those looking for a casual bite or a Pisco sour (the national drink of Peru, it combines high-proof brandy with lime juice, simple syrup and egg whites).
With a menu that acts as a primer on Peruvian food, La Mar is poised to take Peruvian to prime time. Though the cuisine has been introduced here with success (notably at Limón, Destino and Destino’s newly opened Pisco Latin Lounge), Acurio aims to make Peruvian ubiquitous worldwide. Which raises the question: Is ceviche the next sushi? Is Pisco punch the new mojito? Acurio is betting on it—by year’s end, there will be a La Mar in Mexico City; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Santiago, Chile.
La Mar Cebichería Peruana
Pier 1 1/2, 415-397-8880
lamarcebicheria.com
