After my godson’s wedding, I traveled to the bohemian Barranco neighborhood of Lima for a dining odyssey with a small family group of wedding participants. We’d emerged from the weekend celebration at the exotic river-jungle ecolodge, Wasai Tambopata Lodge, in a dream-like state. [https://www.wasai.com/]
We entered another dream state when we went to Astrid & Gastón in nearby Miraflores. Having slipped into my best tourist outfit, I was ready to experience the stylish food that Gastón Acurio, nicknamed the godfather of modern Peruvian cuisine, showcases in his grand 17th century country mansion. He and his German-born pastry chef wife, Astrid Gutsche, both award-winning chefs, met at Paris’s Cordon Bleu. They started the flagship Astrid & Gastón in 1994, and now have a boatload of businesses in 11 countries. 
The Lima restaurant is in an enclosed hacienda courtyard—an enormous yet intimate multileveled room decorated with sparkling chandeliers, lush hanging plants with streamers, and gleaming white table cloths. I was clearly underdressed, but no matter.
The food is impressive. I’m going to start with the dramatic dessert because it’s unlike any other. Designed for two, the Saint Chocolate Bomb is a chocolate sphere enclosing turron ice cream, frozen inca cherry and picaron honey, that breaks open when the server pours the hot chocolate sauce over it in the form of a cross. What a bomb! 
I was also wowed by the warm, rich chocolate Amazonian soufflé with Uchucuta (red chili) ice cream.
The Sea Wellington is the delicious daily catch baked in millefeuille (layers of thin puff pastry) in red wine sauce and cauliflower cream with herbs. More please! The sea bass topped with native potato scales, vongole beurre blanc sauce and Olluco rainbow pasta was lovely but not as flavorful as it looks, especially compared to the Sea Wellington. 
It was elegant, but some of the food was not quite as sophisticated as I’d expected. Perhaps as their very first place, could it be a bit tarnished by fame? But do go. There are both a la carte and tasting menus. Good for an intimate dinner or group celebration. It’s much more reasonable than Central or Mayta, and possible to make a reservation without calling months in advance, but check their guidelines. Note to self: Keep trying the endless list of other restaurants.
The Latin American food world, especially in Lima, offers bountiful pleasures that continue to captivate me and food lovers worldwide.