Latest opening: Llama Inn
What: A contemporary Peruvian restaurant atop Shoreditch’s The Hoxton hotel. Llama Inn was founded in New York in 2015 and launched its first international outpost last year in Madrid. The Hoxton’s owner Ennismore has brought the well-regarded concept - its original site holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and placed on the New York Times’ Top 100 Restaurants list this year - to London via its in-house restaurant studio Carte Blanched. The project follows the success of Chet’s - another trendy US import - that Carte Blanched recently secured for The Hoxton in Shepherds Bush.
Who: Llama Inn is the creation of restaurateur Juan Correa and chef Erik Ramirez (the latter was born to Peruvian parents in New York and is an alumni of Eleven Madison Park). The kitchen is headed up by Marcin Maliczowski, who previously worked at famed Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio’s Barcelona outpost Yakumanaka.
The vibe: Llama Inn occupies the space that was until recently home to Mexican restaurant Maya, which was operated by Soho House. The light-filled seventh-floor space already had a New York feel, but this has now been amplified with the addition of design features that nod to Llama Inn’s original site in the city, including a bright colour palette, lots of plants, Mid Century-furniture and low-slung sofas. There is also a terrace that offers impressive views of the city skyline (the hotel is looking into some sort of covering that would make the space viable all year round).
The food: The menu is tight with around 15 savoury dishes on offer. Snacks include octopus anticucho (skewer) with aji panca, potato and capers; pork shoulder slider, sweet potato, salsa criolla and spicy mayo; and smoked mozzarella-filled croquettes served with ocopa, a sauce flavoured with huacatay (AKA black mint). Next up is a trio of ceviches - summer fruits, scallop (pictured above) and a crispy squid number - that all come with an ample amount of a punchy, carefully-emulsified sauce. More substantial dishes include pork chop with cucumber salad and aji verde; whole fish patarashca with aji amarillo curry and jasmine rice (to share); and an unlikely-sounding but surprisingly-successful dish of quinoa, bacon, avocado, banana and cashew. Desserts include a tart made with lucuma (a tree fruit) flavoured with miso and matcha.
To drink: Overseen by bar director Natasha Bermudez, Llama Inn’s creative cocktail list is big on Peruvian spirits and ingredients with options including Straight To Hell (Quebranta Pisco, gin, strawberries, yuzu and soy milk); ginger spice (Japanese whisky, green apple, ginger and spices); and a ‘one-shot’ Martini that’s served with a blue cheese-stuffed olive. Wines are billed as being typically small production and low-intervention. Prices start at an approachable £7 for a tap-served Verdejo but rise quickly. The 75-or-so wines on the list are largely arranged stylistically, with sections including ‘Oxidised and a bit nutty’, ‘Enough acid to make you trip’ and ‘Great and bougie’. The latter showcases Llama Inn’s most premium wines, including a Chardonnay from Patagonia’s famed Bodega Chacra (£226) and a Grenache from cult Californian winemaker Angela Osborne (£148).
And another thing: The venue is accessed via a yellow door at the back of The Hoxton on Willow Street. Kudos to the management for making it just hidden away enough to be cool - the route is marked out by little Llama Inn graphics - yet still possible to find after a few drinks.
The Hoxton, Shoreditch
1 Willow Street, London EC2A 4BH
www.llamainnlondon.com
