For several years now we have purchased the tasting menu for several people that was auctioned at March of Dimes SIGNATURE CHEFS and we returned again last night to be treated to a superb and sensational meal by Chef Mike Ciuffardi at INCA SOCIAL.
It was quiet as this is a holiday week and we were in the even quieter private dining room with the excellent Isabella from Colombia who was dream from the start as she gave us a lesson in how to prepare the PISCO MULE drink(pisco, lime, ginger beer, bitters) down to the specific type of Pisco used and for what reason. She really did a great job and deserves praise for putting up with the 8 of us as well!
After our wonderful cocktails (some of us had more than one!) chef greeted us with YUCA a la HUANCAINA, a superb fried yuca in Huancaina cream with dehydrated Peruvian Olive and we learned that the name of this superb sauce is from the town of Huancayo! It was a tasty start to this excellent repast showing all the flavors of Peru that make this cuisine so delicious. NIKKEI CEVICHE is an homage to Japan as there is a large Japanese population in Peru. The homage is in the leche de tigre which has oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil and is darker than its South American cousin. Here it was served over beautiful fresh tuna chunks with cucumber, avocado and seaweed. INCA SOCAIL really rocks when it comes to ceviche!
SUDADO PACIFICO was the fish of the day and was a beautifully grilled piece of Mahi-Mahi cooked in Ahi Amarillo sauce (spicy yellow Peruvian peppers) which is likely one of my favorite sauces on earth. Chicha de Jora is a fermented sauce that compliments the dish which also came with a Peura (Peruvian) scallop in its shell and a tasty grilled shrimp. We all loved this dish and paired it with a tasty OKO Pinot Noir from Pays d'Oc in France.
Our main course was a huge TOMAHAWK RIBEYE (checkout the photos and videos) with Maras Salt (the salt pans in Peru's sacred valley), butter and rosemary with Anticucho-style grilled asparagus. The meat was superb, and I gnawed on the huge bone for extra fun! We switched to a Canyon Road Merlot which was nice, but the wine list could do with some upgrades here!
Many of us admitted we are not big cheesecake fans, but the CRIOLLO CHEESECAKE was an exception with chicha morada (purple corn) sauce which I can easily say was gobbled up by everyone present.
What a fun way to spend our last meal out in the USA this year before we head overseas for 3 months this weekend.
See you in New Zealand next time!
