Gaston's Restaurants????

Gaston is beyond doubt an amazing businessman and entrepreneur. He has opened now (about 6-12 months ago) a couple restaurants out of Lima (in 'provincias') under the brand "Chicha". There's one in Cuzco and another one in Arequipa, and he's planning to open some more. I visited the one in Arequipa. What he offers there is the same regional food that you can find in typical restaurants in the area with a 'Gaston touch' and a small sample of what you could find in a Gaston restaurant in Lima. If you ask me, he should leave the regional food alone. I know my cuisine well and I prefer to try it in a good traditional restaurant than in a fancy place and the changes he makes are not necessarily great improvements but sutile variations. However, I do highly recommend the other part of the menu, which was absolutely delicious. The quality of the service and presentation etc was very good too.

 

If you are looking for authentic Arequipan cuisine stay away from Chicha and go directly to Sol de Mayo in Yahahuara (just a few minutes from Plaza de Armas). Thanks to my date that is a fan of Gaston Acurio, I wasted my time and money at this place . The service is good and the decor is nice but the food is just bland.

J. Alimana

 

I definitely agree. Sol de Mayo, Tradición Arequipeña, Nueva Palomino, La Lucila, any of these will serve you better than Chicha if you're looking for traditional food. However, if you happen to go to Chicha for any reason, go for the 'gourmet' part of the menu (unfortunately no more than 5 o 6 dishes) and you won't be dissapointed.

 

Oh, Gastón. I've been to Tanta and Chicha (Cusco) before and I loved the food there. I might try out Astrid and Gaston or Panchita soon since I haven't ate there yet.

 

Thanks for sharing the article. It's good to know Gaston Acurio is opening a restaurant in Wash. DC next year.

 

Gaston better bring his A-game to DC. The competition will be tough. There are plenty of good restaurants from all over the world in DC. In the short term, he should do pretty good - I don't think there are Peruvian restaurants of that level in DC yet.