From the time I landed in Lima, I knew I could not leave without eating at El Rincon Que No Conoces, which mildly translated means "The Corner Joint You've Never Heard Of."
Along with its whimsical name, the bits and pieces I knew about Chef Teresa Izquierdo Gonzales more than peaked my curiosity. However, was it my curiosity or my admiration for the 72 year-old female chef who had made this "joint" popular by cooking her family recipes for countless followers - many of the local musicians (including our beloved Pepe Villalobos) and celebrities from all over Peru for some 30 years?
So on my last day in Lima, Eva (my eating and touring partner for the day), and I got in a taxi and headed to El Rincon, located at the edge of Lima Centro - a rather non-touristy part of town. When we arrived, we were greeted by a man who stood post at the door. He handed us us a tiny slip of paper on which he had written the number "52" and told us that we had about a 35 minute wait. Clearly this was "the joint."
Once pulled from the small crowd waiting patiently outside its doors, Eva and I followed another gentleman who then led us through the downstairs seating area up the stairs to an airy roof-top dining room on the second landing.
From its extensive menu, Eva sampled a palta rellena stuffed with crabmeat and then followed that with asado a la tira (short ribs of beef) with white rice (which I devoured all by myself since Eva is a vegetarian). One of the waiters, insisted that we go with the house speciality dessert - a mini platter of fresh out the hot oil deep fried dough, shaped into rings. They sat beautifully in an amber colored pool of sweet syrup.
All this and an incredibly welcoming staff (that coincidentally included a young waiter who, told us that as a little boy he once lived in the states, Washington Heights (my neck of the woods back home), made for a wonderful last meal set in Lima Centro.
If Peru hasn't named Chef Teresa Iziuerdo as one of its national treasures, it ought to!
No comments:
Post a Comment