I had heard about INCA SOCAL since it opened just up Wilson Boulevard in Arlington almost 2 years ago, but never had been there and was thrilled last year when Chef Michael Ciuffardi brought his team to participate in March of Dimes' Signature Chefs event. Their ceviche that night was primo and we walked away with an auction dinner for six which we finally arranged last night. It was a wonderful experience with amazing food, great drinks and tableside demos by Chef Michael with wonderful explanations of all the foods, history and more by event manager Carla. The six of us had a ball and there are photos and videos on Facebook showing everything.
We sat down to conchita, the small toasted corn kernels munchies that Peru is famous for, and our drink was, of course, a delicious Pisco Sour, which some of us had to have seconds for sure! The first course was Quinoa, that ancient and healthy grain that is always a treat, but Chef Michael nestled it on a layer of asparagus cream with red pepper, mango, radish, roasted baby corn and dots of cilantro oil. The cream was a rich almost soup-like base which required a spoon to scoop up afterwards.
SIWICHI is an old local word that we call Ceviche today and Chef Michael prepared tableside the same one he made last year from Signature Chefs but used fresh flounder with the recoto pepper leche de tigre, red onion, sweet potato, chocle (soft white large Peruvian corn kernels) and cancha (the small yellow toasted crunchy corn kernels). Ceviche or Siwichi is really not a hard dish to make, but you have to have awesome fish and this flounder was amazing and there has to be some secret ingredient in the leche de tigre as I can never seem to copy it! CHICA MORADA is a delicious cold purple corn drink that was served here with or without rum and is infused with spices like cloves and cinnamon. Inca Social has tons of ceviches on the menu as well as a sushi bar and we can't wait to return to try it all!
MAR DE GRAU was our 3rd course name for a Peruvian ware hearo and was a Steamed lobster tail served atop a seafood sauce with pak choi(bok choy) and Andean Peruvian potatoes, baby corn and asparagus. The sauce was so rich and flavorful it reminded me of the Spanish XO sauce crossed with a seafood bisque. We were all in heaven and the Proverb Sauvignon Blanc served with it was the perfect foil to the dish's richness. The lobster was so good I was cleaning out all the lobster tail shells at the table!
INCA RISOTTO was a rich Risotto a la Huancaina made with cheese and cream with tenderloin grilled steak served atop, cherry tomato and an "Oriental" sauce of oyster, soy, vinegar and more all reduced. This sauce is used on the Lomo Saltado served at Inca Social, so you can have it there! The meat was tender and tasty and it was all paired with a fun Passion Fruit Chilcano made with Pisco, Ginger Ale & Bitters.
We were getting very full but there was room for the dessert which was a fun and fairly light PICARONES which are Peruvian "doughnuts" or fried dough rings made from sweet potato and squash (who knew?) and covered with a syrup made with cinnamon and cloves and more and a scoop of LUQUMA Ice Cream which was dreamy. Chef Michael over-indulged us as he shaved Cacao Quillabamba 70% Cacao from Peru over the entire dish. OMG..we were all in heaven and promised to return to Inca Social again very soon and many more times for sure (PS they have another one in Vienna, VA.)!!
Many thanks to Chef Michael, Carla and the entire team at Inca Social who were more than welcoming!
