We enjoy visiting Cosme, the restaurant in San Isidro created by James Berckemeyer. It is a great place for well-executed plates that comfort us every time.
This opportunity, we visited Cosme to try the new iteration of his Tasting Menu, a menu available by reservation only, created to show James’s creative side and wow international clients in just one sitting.
Cosme’s Sustainable Spirit
The restaurant concept connects with sustainability, from the name inspired by the San Cosme Hills, one of the first famous human settlements in Lima, setting the base for “neighborhood food” to the colors on the roof and the walls that Chef James explains “daily, enough waste of soda caps can produce 250 walls like the one on the back of the restaurant, we decided to use them and give it color”. James also explains the vulture on the logo: “For us, the vulture (gallinazo as known in the city) is an innate recycler that contributes to the cleaning and equilibrium of the environment.”
The Cosme Experience a Creative Menu
The menu begins with bread made with quinoa in the dough and crust and chicha de jora that brings acidity to the dough, contrasting between a crunchy outside and a soft, warm inner. This bread comes with an Andean herbs butter that, once melted in the bread, you won’t be able to stop.
The Sommelier offers options to pair from an exquisite list of international wines to cocktails from the bar or non-alcoholic options like homemade sodas.
The first course is the chef’s take on conchas a la parmesan, a classic Peruvian entree. It uses the excellent scallops from Ica, lightly seared and served next to a pillow containing an emulsion of parmesan cheese in one bite, which marks a great beginning. It is followed by fish tartar on a slice of northern corn fritter, a soft, sweet patty with fresh fish and a hint of lemon, which makes a contrast of flavors.
On top of a pillow comes a pork tendon dumpling with a thick sauce; this plate is based on a Peruvian classic, patitas con maní, pork trotters on peanut stew. The following plate also has a chifa (Chinese-Peruvian) inspiration, the Peruvian breakfast as they call it: a deep-fried bao bun with glazed pork belly, fried sweet potatoes, and pickled turnip ready to be assembled by yourself.
The next plate is inspired by the classic escabeche de Pescado. A tomato-based “sopa criolla” sauce is a flavor conductor for a fresh catch of the day fish escabeche crowned with scales of tubers. It was then followed by a spaghetti carbonara topped with a sea urchin, fresh from the Pacific Ocean, bringing a layer of umami and extra creaminess to the pasta. The last step on this menu also portrays the Peruvian products, in this case, the Lima Beans, a product with an Origin denomination that is placed as a base for a slow-braised short-rib.
The menu ends on a sweet note with a dessert with many textures of cacao with a crumble, ice cream, and a tulip, crowning the experience.
IN THE KNOW: Cosme is in the San Isidro District, 162 Tudela y Varela Ave. Opening hours are Monday through Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4:00 p.m. For the Cosme experience, you have to make a reservation on their website.
