Central

The story

Central in Lima: Contemporary Peruvian Tasting Menu, No. 1 World's 50 Best (2023)

Central, at Av. Pedro de Osma 301 in Barranco, Lima, runs a contemporary Peruvian kitchen that placed first on The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2023. The cooking follows the country's altitudes, moving from the sea to the Andean peaks, cloud forests and Amazon.

A tasting menu across twelve ecosystems

The main menu is a tasting of 12 moments and 32 preparations, each drawn from a different ecosystem. Ingredients are chosen for their season and their territory, so the menu shifts as the land does. The meal runs about three hours, and a pairing can be added to it.

Mater and the research behind the plates

Central works closely with Mater, a research center that documents Peru's biological and cultural diversity with food at its core. Malena Martínez, Virgilio Martínez and Pía León lead Mater, and its projects bring in local communities, artists and researchers. The same knowledge feeds Kjolle in Barranco, MIL in Cusco and MAZ in Tokyo.

Longer immersions and cacao

Inmersión Central takes about six hours. It includes a guided visit to the experimental garden and Mater project space, access to the creative kitchen, liquids and Theobromas areas, then the full tasting menu with pairing. Theobromas Lab is a two-hour session that follows cacao from fruit to bar, with tastings of native varieties such as copoazú, macambo and wild cacao.