Martin Morales' Shoreditch restaurant Andina to open in December
Ex-DJ Morales, who opened Ceviche in Soho in March 2012, had originally planned to open a second Ceviche, albeit with a different approach to the original, in Shoreditch this spring, but was held back by planning.
Andina, taken from the term to describe a woman from the Andes, will be situated in Shoreditch's Redchurch Street and will take inspiration from a Peruvian 'picanteria', a family-run traditional community restaurant.
The 88-cover two-storey restaurant will open all day from breakfast to dinner, serving dishes which use a mixture of Peruvian ingredients and local and seasonal British produce from an open kitchen.
The menu, created by Morales and head chef Tomasz Baranski, includes breakfast dishes of Kiwicha con Manzana y Membrillo (Andean highland breakfast grain, apple & quince) and Pastel de Choclo con Huevos (corn cake with poached eggs).
The lunch menu will feature Naked Quinoa Slider (quinoa, coriander, papaya, mint, kiwi yogurt, huacatay sauce, no bread), Empanada de Alpaca (lean alpaca meat pastie) and Ceviche DJ (lobster, seabass, avocado and gooseberry with pour-your-own tiger’s milk) while dishes on the dinner menu include Carpaccio de Res con Pisco y Huacatay (beef carpaccio with pisco & Andean herbs) and Adobo de Chancho (Andean pork stew).
A dedicated Ceviche Bar will also feature in the lower floor dining area alongside a Pisco and Chicha Bar where head barman Miguel Arbe and his team will create Peruvian pisco and Andean brew ‘chicha’ cocktails.
Peruvian soul food
Morales said picanterias served the 'real soul food of Peru' and their approach had not yet been brought to London, so was looking forward to sharing the dishes with the capital.
“Andina is the result of a very personal journey for me. Some of my fondest memories are from my time spent eating at picanterias in Arequipa when I was a kid living in Peru. Andina ladies prepared dishes from dawn in order to deliver delicious meals later in the day. The variety of ingredients used, the honesty of their cooking, deep flavours and freshness really stood out for me. The Andina ladies were, and still are, my heroes.
"I used to live and work in Shoreditch and so wanted to create a special restaurant there; one which serves exciting food with tradition and nutrition, that presents something new without following trends, just following what we believe in.”
Andina will also feature a games room, housing Morales' collection of over 2,000 rare Peruvian funk, cumbia and psychedelia 7-inch singles from the 60s and 70s and which will be used for private dining and cooking master classes.
