Zarate Chops

Ricardo Zarate Serving Pacu Ribs and Amazonian Oils at Paiche, Opening Spring in Marina del Rey

Ricardo Zarate
Ricardo Zarate Photo: Tony Chen

Last month, we got a great glimpse into the sketchbook Ricardo Zarate uses to draw up his new dishes for Paiche. Today, a full press release on the Peruvian chef’s third restaurant with partner Stephane Bombet makes the picture even clearer of what we can expect this spring. Paiche’s menu will apparently be broken into eight sections: “Abrebocas and Ensaladas,” Ceviches Sashimi-style,” “Tiraditos,” “Causas and Sushi Rolls,” “Anticucho Grill,” “Frituras,” “Cocina Caliente,” and “Verduras.” More than a few of the dishes will feature the restaurant’s namesake Amazonian river fish, miso-marinated and grilled for inclusion in a lettuce wrap, topped with aji amarillo in sashimi, and served in a cilantro black beer stew, with the collar of the creature cooked on the anticucho grill. What else?

Amazonian influences will also be found in dishes like tacacho made with muddled plantains, smoked pancetta (in place of traditional chicharron), and jalapeno sauce, as well as a seabass tiradito coated with sacha inchi oil, which comes from pressing both the fruit and nut of the Pracaxi tree. Another dish will be Pacu ribs with rocoto glaze, using a fish related to the piranha.

The format here is geared towards small plates that promise to be “inexpensive,” alongside Japanese beers and sake. The restaurant will have a look evoking the ocean, with an open kitchen resplendent in tiles that look like fish scales, live lobsters in a saltwater tank, reclaimed barn wood, three chefs tables, and a 42-seat al fresco patio.

The restaurant is informally dedicated to the efforts of Amazonian peoples who have helped preserve the paiche and other endangered native species from the brink of extinction.

Earlier: Watch Ricardo Zarate Break Down Paiche [GS]
Paiche to Touch Down in Marina Del Rey Q1 2013 [GS]

Ricardo Zarate Serving Pacu Ribs and Amazonian Oils at Paiche, Opening Spring in