Peruvian Groove

The latest in a wave of Peruvian restaurants confirms that the eclectic South-American cuisine is here to stay.

Piqueo’s chef-owner Carlos Altamirano has designs on something of a small Peruvian-restaurant empire. He opened his first place, Mochica, three years ago, after working in some of the city’s better kitchens, including Hawthorne Lane and Postrio. Now, 14 years after emigrating to SF from Peru, he’s opened his second.

The Bernal Heights storefront, previously home to Moki’s Sushi, has been transformed into a stylish venue—a sign that things in the neighborhood, where Liberty Café has long been the main dining draw, are looking up. The walls are a deep, rusty red, and an exposed beam runs the length of the front room. A sculptural metal vase holds lemon-laden branches, and shelves along the walls display wine bottles and Peruvian cookbooks. All of this, as Altamirano tells it, was “a happy accident…I wasn’t looking to open a second restaurant.” But one of his devoted Mochica customers, who owned the Bernal space, encouraged him to do it. So far, Altamirano has received only raves. “Neighbors keep coming in and telling me that they’re happy I’m here,” he says.

San Francisco diners as a whole  embrace good food of any type, but who could have predicted the enthusiasm with which our city would welcome Peruvian cuisine, from Limón to Fresca to Anne Gingrass’ much-anticipated Essencia?
But it makes perfect sense because the cuisine—when it’s done well, as it is at Piqueo’s—represents fusion at its finest, with pronounced Chinese, African, Spanish, Italian and Creole influences.

Piqueo’s humita dulce with shrimp curry sauce—a tamale fortified with onions, sugar, raisins and cheese steamed in a banana leaf and topped with shrimp and a sweet curry sauce—is an odd-sounding combination that works beautifully. Ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime with a heavy dose of red chile, is mouth-tingling; grilled chorizo-stuffed squid, served with barley and romesco sauce, reveals layers of smoky flavor.

A glass of sangria or a Peruvian beer are good matches for the food, though the wine list includes lusty reds to pair with heartier dishes. When asked about the absence from the menu of a pisco sour, the frothy brandy and egg-white concoction that’s considered Peru’s national drink, Altamirano cites the lack of a liquor license, then vocalizes his dream of opening yet another restaurant: a cevicheria where the pisco sours flow freely. But for now, he says, “we drink those after we get off work.” The restaurant’s been packed since it opened, so it looks like they’ll need them.

Piqueo’s 830 Cortland Ave., 415-282-8812

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