CHICHA

Jess treated us to dinner last night at the newly opened ChiCha Peruvian cuisine, by Concept Creations, it was a refreshing and delightful change.  I bet not that many are able to describe, right off the bat, what Peruvian cooking is so here is a small lesson taken from their website.  Like many great chefs have said "when it comes to basics there is not much creativity in the culinary scene, what it boils down to is interpretation and improvisation, on and on and on" ... so, here they are, examples of refinement of basics.

*  CERVICHE - raw fish & seafood marinated in citrus juice ie lime & lemon
*  CAUSA - cold starter of seasoned mashed potato terrine, with fillings
*  TIRADITO - Peruvian version of sashimi or carpaccio, with spicy sauces
*  ANTICUCHOS - grilled meats on skewers
*  CHICHARRONES - best described as 'confit' of meats & poultry
*  PICARONES - dessert of pumpkin fritters in sugar cane syrup

We had a wonderful tasting menu of the above, plus Tacos the ChiCha way.  The restaurant is cleverly designed to meet the incline of Peel Street going up from Queen's Road towards Hollywood.  It is a contiuous hike from the bar, to a 'Cevicheria', and then the main communal seating dining room.  We were in the middle section, at the 'Cevicheria' which was less noisy and cooler.  With more than 10 cooks in trendy chef black and matching aprons at the open kitchen, it has to be one of the best staffed in the SOHO neighborhood. The ambience was magic, service excellent despite being so new, and overall ChiCha was a gem.  Our only disappointment was the cerviche items which were not at par with the rest of the dishes.  With a bottle of $500 Spanish wine the damage was $450 per head, not exactly a steal, but a truly enjoyable encounter.

CHICHA : 26 Peel Street ... 2561 3336 or 9637 7701 ask for Viviano, a most friendly host!