The transformative 14-course tasting menu celebrates Peru’s cultural fusion, creativity, and culinary evolution by unpacking the African, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese cuisine influences on Peruvian cuisine.
DUBAI : Curated by La Mar by Gastón Acurio’s Chef de Cuisine Andrée Nuñez, culinary enthusiasts are invited to embark on a 14-course tasting experience that celebrates Peru’s vibrant history of migration, resilience, and creativity. Hosted exclusively at the six-seater cebiche bar every Thursday and Friday evening, Chef Andrée and his team offer guests a rare opportunity to savour two centuries of Peruvian heritage through flavour, craftsmanship, and storytelling.
Inspired by Peru’s history of movement and discovery, ‘The Journey’ unfolds as a culinary voyage where each chapter mirrors a stage of exploration and return. Developed over three years by Chef Andrée, the experience features a series of meticulously crafted dishes, presented in creative and unexpected ways. Among the highlights is the kumquat tiradito, a reinterpretation of Chef Nuñez’s first encounter with Japanese Peruvian Nikkei cuisine. Here, he applies traditional charcoal-grilling techniques to raw seafood, creating a delicate interplay of smoke, citrus, and umami that mirrors Peru’s dual identity – refined yet rooted, contemporary yet ancestral. Another standout is the short rib with inverted chaufa rice, inspired by the Chinese Peruvian Chifa tradition. While the dish features perfectly slow-cooked beef, the rice, caramelised, sticky, and subtly sweet, becomes the unexpected highlight, transforming a humble staple into the heart of the experience.
To pay homage to the Italian influence, guests can experience delectable yet unconventional creations, such as the oysters and vanilla, featuring a single oyster dressed in vanilla and caviar, as well as a Hokkaido scallop, delicately covered in pistachio and truffle. Another dish is the playful twist on the traditional Italian cannoli, filled with Huatia stew and topped with pickled shallots, caviar, and uni. Sailing in from Spain, guests can discover the beautifully presented tuna and mashuas featuring bluefin tuna accompanied by ají amarillo pilpil, ajo blanco, and confit mashuas.
In the dessert chapter, the Amazonas dessert pays tribute to the biodiversity of Peru’s rainforest, showcasing cocona, sachatomate, and wild herbs, ingredients so rare that even many Peruvians have never tasted them. The menu concludes with suspiro lucuma, a modern reinterpretation of an 18th-century dessert once prepared by Lima’s convents. More than a sweet finale, it serves as a reflection on heritage and continuity, a reminder, as Chef Andrée notes, that “we cannot know where we are going if we don’t remember where we come from.”
Guests begin at the Port of Departure, with delicate oceanic flavours, before embarking through the Midway Passage, where the flavours grow bolder and more complex, reflecting the cultural exchange that transformed Peruvian gastronomy. Finally, they arrive at the Final Anchorage, followed by Disembarkation, where familiar notes of comfort and heritage welcome them home. “All migration to Peru happened by sea, and the menu follows that path – a voyage from departure to discovery to return. Each stage grows in intensity and emotion, just like a real journey,” Chef Andrée explains.
Each dish is served on custom-designed tableware created in collaboration with a local Dubai-based ceramic artist Aneesha Rai. Every piece reflects a different Peruvian landscape, from the cracked earth of Ayacucho’s highlands to the coral-covered rocks of the Pacific coast, becoming an integral part of the storytelling. The plates themselves embody Peru’s land, oceans, and seasons, capturing the very terrain that inspired the menu.
“The Journey was born from a desire to bring the essence of Peru to Dubai, not just through flavour, but through storytelling,” explains Chef Andrée Nuñez. “For 200 years, Peru has been shaped by waves of cultural influence – African, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Italian – each contributing something to the way we cook and see the world. This menu is about creativity, adaptation, and resilience, the qualities that define our people. It’s a big responsibility to represent an entire country. When guests dine with us, I want them to feel a piece of Peru – its heart, its history, its people. We’re not just serving food, we’re sharing who we are.”
The Journey tasting menu at La Mar by Gastón Acurio is served exclusively at the Cebiche Bar every Thursday and Friday, with a single seating at 7:00pm. Advance reservations are required at least 48 hours in advance. The menu is priced at AED 795 per person for the tasting experience, with an optional beverage pairing available at AED 455 per person.
